


Run(a)way

by Flameroyalty



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien gets a new friend, Adrinette, Aged-Up AU, Angst, Eventual Ladynoir, Eventual Marichat, F/M, Fluff, I know far too much about fashion now, Italian, LadyNoir - Freeform, Lots of Fashion stuff, Marichat, Miraculous Ladybug - Freeform, My First Work in This Fandom, Nathalie is on Adrien's Side, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reveal Fic, Romance, Slow Burn, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-06-09 22:14:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 27,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6925423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flameroyalty/pseuds/Flameroyalty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One little mistake can be a big deal, as long as it accidentally gets put into Gabriel Agreste's Spring collection.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Walk, Walk, Fashion Baby

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first chapter, there's a lot more to come. I literally have a whole plan written out. This is first fic for this fandom and I'm still pretty nervous to put this out there. Feel free to leave a comment, I'd love if you did. Thanks for reading!

Adrien’s chest heaves as he lands outside the backdoor of the building. He felt horrible that he had left Ladybug without a goodbye, but he was desperate. Hawkmoth was a villain, but the idea of coming face to face with his father right now scared him more than any akuma ever would. He was late, really late. He makes sure the coast is clear and with a flash of green light, he’s back to his civilian self. 

“Get some sleep Plagg, I don’t know when we’re going to get out of here.”

He opens the door as quietly as possible but it probably didn’t matter what he did, it was chaos. It wasn’t long until curtain and you could tell nobody was ready. There were racks full of unworn clothes, models halfway through hair and makeup, and names were being shouted everywhere.

“Adrien!” His name sticks out from the rest of the voices. He turns on his heels and watches Nathalie power walk towards him. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you. Where have you been? Why are you not dressed yet? If your father was here.” She rambles on as she marches right past him. He follows her lead; this was not a new experience for him. 

She leads him to a woman he doesn’t recognize, which is odd for events like these. She couldn’t have been much older than him. She was petite with black hair in two buns on top of her head, a black sleeveless dress and red heels. He noticed the hem of the skirt had a line of red dots that matched the color of the shoes perfectly. He smiled to himself and hoped Ladybug managed to catch the akuma. It had been a woman who’s every new report came true. She had reminded him a lot of Stormy Weather but akumas were so frequent lately, trends seemed to be coming up.

“Please get him ready. I have to fix…everything else.” Nathalie’s voice breaks his train of thought. She walks away and leaves Adrien alone beside the woman and the model who’s dress she was fixing. 

“Give me a second dear.” She says to him, “I’ll be right with you.”

He feels Plagg tossing and turning under his shirt. He buttons it up to make sure he isn’t seen. Adrien takes a step back and watches this woman sew straight lines free hand while the dress is still on the model. Her hands were like magic. It was one of the most incredible things he’s seen behind the curtains. She sends the model off to make up and turns to him. Her smile is warm and inviting, also an impressive thing in this environment. He assumed she was one of the staff the other designer brought with him. There was no way his father hired her. 

“Okay so you are-” She starts. 

“Adrien. Uh, Adrien Agreste” He blurts. The woman chuckles. 

“I know who you are. It’s kind of hard to not know you in this industry. Not to mention your father is my boss. I’m Juniper.” She puts her hand out, he takes it and shakes it.

“It’s nice to meet you Juniper,” He says. He felt he knew her from somewhere but couldn’t place it. It was probably just from a different event he was too busy running around to really pay attention. 

“The pleasure’s all mine, Mr. Agreste.” She smiles. “What I was going to say earlier was that you’re wearing something pink. Is that alright with you?”

All he can do is nod; he’s not used to being asked if he likes what’s being put on him. She pulls out a jacket that’s mostly black but with 3 strips of light pink, about a centimeter wide going from the collar to the cuff that had a ring of the same pink on both arms. The button down was gray and the tie was white. It was a step away from the black or brown suits with nitpicky details he’s usually given. 

“The goal is to focus on the colors, not the minor differences. Men’s fashion is so boring usually, we wanted to kick it up a notch. Why should the girls get all the fun?”

He smiles and stands up on the pedestal the last model was standing. He’s not unfamiliar to the concept of undressing and dressing again in front of others. So in a matter of minutes he was dressed again, and being tailored. 

“So how’s school going?” Juniper asks him. 

“As well as you can expect high school to go. Balancing classes, modeling and,” He catches himself before he says too much. 

“The girlfriend?” Juniper jokes. 

Adrien his cheeks burning up, “Heh, um. Not really, no. Just. Kinda?” He blurts out. He knew if his father heard he had a girlfriend, he would start blaming everything on that. 

“A boyfriend then?” 

“No, no, no. Just a friend.” He looks down. He knows him and Ladybug aren’t anything other than friends and partners. 

“Come on, you’re Adrien Agreste. That’s gotta mean something. You could have any girl you like.”

“Not the one I want,” He mutters under his breath. Juniper gives him a sad smile and stands up. 

“Well, you’re all ready. Go get in line. Remember you’re going to be moving around a lot, they want to see how it looks in more than one position.” He looks at his reflection in the mirror and realizes, he looks pretty good in pink. “Have fun.”

“Thank you!” He hops off the little podium and quickly gets into his place. He watches as Nathalie goes to every model to ensure the perfect Gabriel reputation. She sends them out one by one, after inspection. She gets to him and takes a deep breath.

“Thank you for being so good about this. It’s got to be hard to be a 17-year-old, stuck here on a Friday night in a pink suit.” She smiles at him. “But hey, you’re a model. There’s a lot worse places you could be. Try to enjoy it.” He nodded and she went off to the next model. He takes it as his cue to walk into the flashing lights behind the curtain. 

The show comes and goes, the spotlights are replaced with camera flashes as the models, press, and designers finally get the chance to mingle. There were certain models that were encouraged to keep their outfits on They’re usually the pieces that didn’t get as much attention when they first showed so they get taken onto the floor so people can get a second look. Since Adrien didn’t have any other formal attire with him, he takes advantage of this as he walks the lobby floor. He begins searching for the faces from the list his father had Nathalie give him earlier that morning. They were the main investors, other influential people that contributed large amounts to the collection, and required special attention. If not from Gabriel, from the next best thing, Adrien. 

He spots a familiar face from events in the past and sees his father second. They make eye contact and his father signals for him to come over to the group. Adrien takes a deep breath and hopes that his father wasn’t informed about his late arrival. He puts on his signature smile and walks up to the group. 

“Ladies, gentlemen.” He greets the group. He turns, “Father.” 

“You all know my son, Adrien.” Gabriel says to the group. There is a murmur of agreement followed by introductions and handshakes. This was his job, the blank canvas his father painted. Rehearsed introductions, memorized names, perfect posture. He was then put on display for his father’s glory.

“It was a great collection this season Agreste. The idea of putting such brightly colored accents and accessories on not only the females but the males as well was a large leap in the right direction for you. I approve,” says one of the woman across from Adrien. 

“Indeed, I’m sure Anna will be very interested in this collection in it’s entirety. It’s very loud, very spring,” says another of the group. 

“Yes, I was going to mention that as well. It definitely takes a hold on the social justice movement eliminating the gender barriers and bringing attention to the transgender community. Very progressive and sure to grab the attention of plenty of people.” The man speaking turns to Adrien, “And good on you for being the one of the ones to wear it young man. I hope no one at school jokes about you wearing jewellery on the runway.” He turns back to Gabriel, “It’s very Chris Benz.”

Bracelet? Adrien thinks to himself. He takes a look at his wrist and his heart drops. He’s faced with the familiar pink and green charms on his wrist. He curses under his breath. When he switched from Chat to regular clothes, he forgot he was wearing his bracelet from Marinette. He had made a habit of wearing it regularly now that the two of them became closer friends. Thanks to the help of Nino and Alya. 

He wonders how the bracelet managed to get past him, Juniper and Nathalie. He then noticed that the shades of pink match the stripes on his jacket. They must of thought it was part of the outfit. 

Adrien slowly turns to face his father and sees a smile. This terrified him more than if there was a frown. Gabriel says goodbye to the group and begins to walk away. He starts to walk towards the back of the stage. 

“Adrien!” His father shouts. It was flat, a command. 

“Thank you for attending. I’m glad you enjoyed the show.” He says to the investors and quickly catches up with his father. As soon as they are away from the public and media’s eyes, Adrien meets eyes with his father. A hands wraps around Adrien’s wrist and pulls it in front of his face.

“What is this?” His father practically hisses. Adrien pulls his hand away and covers it with his other hand. His father takes a step back and straightens his posture. His arms crosses against his chest. Adrien didn’t see this side of his father often, but knew there was almost no way of talking his way out of this. He figured he might as well try.

“It’s-”

“You are incredibly fortunate that the investors liked it. You nearly compromised the entire collection,” his father cuts him off. His tone was hushed as to not make a scene and expose the incident. 

“No, I-” Adrien tries again to defend himself.

“Do you realize how hard I had to work to get this collaboration? Do you think my job is a joke?”

“No. Dad it was-”

“Then you should understand the amount of effort I put in to make sure I keep this job. I make sure to be where I am needed, when I am needed. Don’t think I wasn’t informed about you showing up late. Again. I don’t see what could be more important to you than being here. This was the arrangement Adrien. You are my son, there are responsiblities that come with that.”

“I was working on a project for school,” Adrien replies. This was not the first time he’s used this excuse but his father barely paid attention to realize. 

“Is that where did you got this? From one of your ridiculous school friends? I have half a mind to pull you out, obviously they’re clouding up your mind from the career I’m trying to build for you. School is merely a distraction apparently.”

Adrien straightens his back and crosses his arms across his chest, matching his father’s posture in a way he almost resents. He had grown quite a bit the past few years, but still had to look up the slightest bit to keep eye contact.

It always came back down to this argument. How school was taking up too much time. How this is all for his benefit. He hated it.

“School is not the problem. The bracelet was given to me by a friend a while ago for good luck, not that you would’ve noticed.” he snaps at his father. It was hard to tell who was more surprised by the comment, Gabriel or Adrien. He wasn’t going to stop there. He finally had his father speechless for once, “You may not like it but the investors did.”

He prepared himself for a rampage. The silence between the two of them became heavy. It was a minor statement but he knew he had never fought back this way before. Adrien was scared of the grave he had just dug for himself. He had no idea how his father was going to react, it was all new territory. 

“I see your point.” This confused Adrien more than anything. His father was, agreeing with him? Gabriel took his son’s hand a bit more gently and inspected the bracelet. “This bracelet, was it made by the same girl who has designed for me before?”

Marinette had managed to win attention from his father many times since the hat she designed years ago. A dress she had worn in a photo with Adrien had peaked his interest, along with a scarf that looked a lot like the one his father gave him for his birthday once. She had also won some minor design competitions when his father needed inspiration from the “outside world.” 

“Correct. Her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I’ve seen some of her sketches, she’s very talented.” He stops himself. He didn’t want to give his father the wrong impression of what his intentions with Mari was. She was his friend. 

“She goes to school with you, yes?”

“Yes.” He gave short, direct answers. He knew he had already pushed his luck today.

“Good. You are excused.” His father looks away, dismissing him. “Go back to the floor and find the people I told you about before. You still have a job to do Adrien. Don’t make me regret my decision.” He then turns and walks off to another model, quickly criticizing her posture. 

Adrien has no plans to go back out there yet, he wanders backstage looking for Juniper. She seemed to be the only person he could really relate to back here. He wondered why he never really never noticed her before. He chocked it up to behind the scenes being such a production and the fact that she was probably hired recently. There was no way his father had been the one to hire her though. 

He returns to the corner he had met her before and sees she’s busy packing her station up. He goes over to greet her. 

“Hello again,” he says. 

She looks up and smiles, ‘Hey there good looking. You did great out there. Why are you back here?” 

“I’m not big on crowds.”

“Yeah okay, just admit you missed me and I’ll drop it,’ she jokes. 

“Oh har har. I actually came back here to give you hell for letting this get past you.” He holds out his wrist. Her eyes widen. 

“No, no, no. Your dad’s gonna kill me.” She starts to ramble. He chuckles. “Don’t laugh at me, your dumb bracelet is going to get me fired.”

“Hey, this is very special bracelet thank you very much. My friend gave it to me.” He pretends to be insulted. She stands and swings her weight onto one leg, her hips sticking out and her hands resting on her waist.

“Is this the friend you mentioned earlier?” She was teasing him. He began blushing like he had earlier. 

“Marinette? Yeah she’s the friend but like I said, she’s just a friend.” He was talking faster than he wanted to. 

“Marinette, I like it. She sounds fun. You got to bring her to one of these things. Bring her around some time.” She turns away from him to face a mirror. She touches up her lipstick. 

He looks down and shifts back and forth, “I’m not allowed to bring friends to these.”

The cap of the lipstick makes a snapping noise and Juniper turns around, “Than make her more than a friend. Surely they’ll let you bring her then. Right?”

He stands there, speechless. Marinette would kill to be behind the scenes at one of these shows but there was no way she’d date him. They were friends. Almost as close as him and Nino. He barely gets the chance to make friends as it is, he wasn’t going to risk ruining it. 

“You’re crazy. You seem to have your hands full and my dad wanted me talking to the important people on the other side of this curtain.” He begins to walk away. 

“Awe come on Adrien. It was a joke.” She shouts from behind him as he leaves. “I want to hear more about her okay?” He doesn’t reply. “I’m going to take that as an okay!”

He shakes his head and smiles. He looked forward to seeing Juniper again. He planned to go back to the lobby but not before finding the buffet. He needed to get some cheese for Plagg, who managed to sleep through this whole thing.


	2. You Better Work it Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be titled, "A Proposition Is Made' but I decided to stick to a theme.

Adrien was still nervous about what his father had planned. He hasn’t seen his father since Saturday and Nathalie has given him nothing but his schedule and a tone like she knew something. He was happy he wasn’t getting punished but he feared it may not last.

He sat in his seat beside Nino, hoping to talk to someone about this, but he had his headphones on and clearly didn’t want to be disturbed. He sighs, rests his chin in his hands, and waited for class to start. He watched as the rest of his classmates who have been with him for years, pile into the classroom. He wasn’t shocked when Marinette wasn’t one of them. She was always late. He made a mental note to call her later and get her the notes.

He watched Chloe strut in with Sabrina tailing her. They seemed to be in the middle of an argument. He wondered how Sabrina still hasn’t managed to break free of her.

“I’m sorry Chloe, but I was hanging out with a friend. I didn’t have time to do your essay and mine,” Sabrina defends herself.

“Since when do you have other friends? I want my blazer back.” Chloe tosses her hands in the air and Adrien notices something out of the ordinary, a bracelet. One incredibly similar to the one on his wrist. He fought the urge to laugh out loud. Some things about Chloe never changed over the years; she used Sabrina, loved him, and hated Marinette.

“Chloe!” It comes out before he can stop himself. The pair stop bickering and turn to face him. Chloe puts on her classic smile and walks over to him.

“Yes Adrien?” She says to him, resting her elbow on his desk and her head in her hand, a bat of her eyelashes follows.

He doesn’t know what to do. He didn’t know why he called her over. Well he knew, but he had no idea how to address it. He averts his eyes to her wrist and then back at her.

“The bracelet?”

She stands and puts her hand in the air, admiring the thing,“Oh this thing? I saw you wearing it on Saturday so I had Daddy get it replicated for me. I loved it so much and I have to stay up to date on the latest trends, you know this. Besides, now we can match.” She turns and smiles at him, very proud of herself and obviously looking for some kind of response.

“Mhm’ He nods. He wasn’t sure if the idea of her wearing anything even close to his amused him, or infuriated him. The bracelet was more than just a fashion statement; it was a gift. Then it hits him, he knew just the thing to set her off. “Chloe, you are aware that mine wasn’t made by my-”

“Adrien!” A voice cuts him off. He and Chloe turn their heads to the door and he smiles. He meets eyes with a visibly very flustered and frustrated Marinette standing in the doorframe.

“Mari,” he greets her. This was perfect, Marinette would see the bracelet on Chloe and claim the credit herself. He didn’t have to do anything but watch.

“What is this?” She’s holding up what he recognizes as Saturday’s show’s recap. It had ‘Pretty in Pink” followed by a picture of him underneath. He had been expecting this conversation and was prepared for it. He knew that it was special to her and it meant a lot to both of them that he cherished it. To Chloe is would be just another bracelet, but for him and Marinette, it was the umbrella all over again.

Nope, there was no way he was going to let Chloe wear one.

He laughs nervously, “Well you see Marin-”

“Everyone take their seats. Class has begun. You aren’t unfamiliar to this concept.” He hears his teacher say from the front of the room. Chloe huffs and sits down across the room. Marinette takes her place in front of Adrien, pouting. She shoves the article into her binder and opens her history book.

He leans forward, “I’ll explain after.”

She scoffs but doesn’t look at him. He falls back into his seat and opens his book too. He messed up. He messed up big time.  
_____________________________________________________________________________________

She was not prepared for this.

She was prepared to intercept Adrien on his way out of class and give him a piece of her mind. That was her bracelet. She gave that to him for luck. It’s not just something you wear on the runway to impress your father. Don’t even get her started on how Chloe was wearing one that looked exactly the same. She was mad, and she was going to inform him of that.

What Marinette wasn’t prepared for was being face to face with Nathalie right outside of school. Nathalie is almost always there to pick up Adrien, but leaves Marinette alone. Today Nathalie came up to her though.

“Marinette?” Nathalie says, clipboard in hand. Marinette knew that Nathalie had mellowed out since the last time they spoke, but this seemed serious.

“Hello Nathalie,” she replies. She wonders what Nathalie wanted with her. Was she in trouble? Her eyes widen, the bracelet. “If this is about the bracelet, I am so sorry,” she begins to ramble.

She swears she sees Nathalie crack a smile before coughing it away and fixing her glasses. Marinette wasn’t sure if she was being laughed at or if she needed to relax. Nathalie was Gabriel Agreste’s assistant, who knew what he had in mind for her. Especially after ruining his spring line.

“Yes, this is about the bracelet,” Nathalie says, looking at her notebook instead of Marinette.

“I am so sorry. I gave that to him forever ago. I never thought he’d wear it on the runway. I probably ruined the whole collection,” Marinette repeats her apology.

“Marinette.”

She goes silent. She looks down at her hands balled up fists in the middle of her stomach, “Sorry.”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you have been offered an incredible opportunity,” Nathalie begins.

_What?_

“Due to recent and past accomplishments as well as other contributions, Gabriel Agreste has requested you personally for an assignment. This assignment can lead to advancements in your fashion career that would be impossible otherwise.”

“Me? Accomplishments? Like what?”

“Let’s see,” Nathalie flips pages in her notebook, “Ah here. The feathered bowler hat and other seamlessly minor design contests, your academic record, personal style, and of course, the bracelet featured in this year’s spring collection.”

Marinette hears a shriek from somewhere on her left. Her and Nathalie both turn to it and watch Chloe rip a bracelet off her wrist and throw it to the ground.

“Why didn’t you tell me that loser designed the bracelet? How did she even manage to get Adrien to wear it? What makes her so special?” They two listen to Chloe yell at a very alarmed Sabrina and watched her storm off.

They turn to each other yet again and both resist the urge to laugh. Marinette for the sake of not wanting Chloe to know she saw the whole thing and to keep a professional stature about herself. Nathalie knew she would be fired.

“That bracelet being on the line was a mistake though, I gave it to Adrien years ago. Why is it so important now?”

“Mr. Agreste would never admit this, but he owes you a debt. The investors saw the bracelet as a step in the right direction. He feels he should give you chance to show what you can offer him. I wish I could tell you more, but unfortunately, I cannot.”

“What’s the assignment?”

“I’m sorry Marinette, I can’t tell you that either.” Marinette sighs, “But he wishes to see her personally, sooner rather than later.”

“Is there any way I can think about it for a while? This seems big.”

“It is, and yes. Here is my card. You can call me when you make your decision.” Nathalie hands Marinette a business card with a phone number, an email and other information she already knew. “Now, are you aware of Adrien’s location? He should be here by now.”

Marinette shakes her head, ‘Nope, sorry. I wanted to talk to him too. If I hear from him, I’ll let you know.” She holds the card up and smiles. Nathalie nods and looks back to the doors of the building.

Marinette walks off, practically burning a hole into the piece of cardboard in her hands. Gabriel Agreste wanted her. For some reason or another, but _her_.  
“I guess I can’t be mad at Adrien anymore. His obliviousness saves the day once again.” She chuckles to herself and pulls out her phone. She had to tell Alya about this.

 ___________________________________________________

Adrien peeks out from behind a column in front of the school. He watches Marinette wave a card in front of Nathalie’s face and walk off. He was glad she was gone, he was hiding from her and now he was late for a photoshoot. Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't promise the chapters will all be up this quickly but I will try.


	3. Cover Girl

“She didn’t know you gave it to him?” asks Alya.

Marinette had called her best friend to video chat, merely seconds after going through her bedroom door. She wanted to talk to her parents about it beforehand. She might be 17, but she still really respected their input. They said it would be an excellent experience and insisted she do it. She had spent the past 10 minutes explaining the events of earlier in her day.

“Nope, you should’ve been there. I swear, if she had gone any louder, only dogs would’ve been able to hear her.” Marinette answers. They both share a laugh as she pulls out her sketchbook from her backpack. She wanted to get a head start brainstorming designs.

“I wish I had been. Sounds like quite the show.”

“She threw it on the ground and I’m pretty sure she stomped on it until it broke.”

“Serves her right. Always trying to take things from you.” Marinette nods, still looking through her book for anything that might catch Gabriel's eye. “But there’s no way she can take this assignment from you,” Alya continues.

Marinette looks away from her book and turns away from Alya. She lets out a short chuckle, “Well.”

Alya’s upbeat attitude turns. Marinette is greeted by a cold stare when she finally does look at the screen. “Well what Marinette. What did you do?”

“I uh, said I’d think about it.”

‘Marinette!” Ayla screams, ‘Do you know what you’re dealing with right now?”

‘A lot of pressure?’

“No! Well I guess, but no! Do you not see how huge this opportunity is?”

Marinette giggles, “That’s what Nathalie called it too.”

“Because she knows it’s a huge deal.”

Marinette sits on her bed and crosses her legs, “I don’t know Alya, this is huge. What if something goes wrong?”

“What if something goes right?” Marinette is silent. Alya continues, “This is Gabriel Agreste, one of the biggest fashion designers in Paris. Think about all the people you could meet, the things you’d see. You could be on the covers of magazines. I can see it now. Marinette, the newest thing in fashion.”

“I don’t even know what the assignment is Alya.”

“Okay, so what? You will still have ‘I worked with Gabriel Agreste’ on your resume. That’s amazing for you and you know it.”

Marinette sighs, “I guess you’re right.”

“Duh. Aren’t I always?” “Shut up.”

“You love me.”

“Yeah yeah.”

“So you haven't even put any thought into what the assignment may be?”

She hadn’t. She had only thought about needing a design, not of what, “No. I was too busy worrying about failing.”

“You got to quit that negative attitude girl. No matter what he throws at you, you can handle it. I have no doubts in you.”

Marinette smiles, “Thanks Alya.”

“You're welcome. Now, let’s brainstorm, what could it be? It’s probably you designing something.”

“Another bracelet maybe? It is what caught his attention in the first place.”

“Or another hat. Hopefully no feathers this time.”

They both burst out laughing at the memories of Adrien having to deal with feathers throughout their friendship. The bowler hat, the pillows at Nino’s house, that one time Chloe wore a feather headband to school. They both stop laughing and go silent. It was one of those ‘great minds think alike” moments only best friends had.

“Adrien!” they both scream at once.

“I will probably be in Adrien’s house! I’ll be working for his father. Alya, I’d be working for Gabriel Agreste!” It all rushes to Marinette in a matter of seconds, “What was I thinking? Why didn’t I say yes on the spot?”

Alya starts laughing, “Because it’s who you are Mari. You focus too much on what can go wrong. Take a chance for once. Have fun.”

Marinette smiles, “You’re right. Me taking a risk was bound to happen eventually, why not this? How hard could it be? It’s just one little assignment right?”

“Exactly! You’ll do fine.” Alya reassures her.

“I’m going to do it.”

“That’s my girl.”

“I’m going to call Nathalie, I’ll call you after okay?”

“You better.” Alya winks just before she hangs up.

Marinette stares at the black screen and takes a deep breath. She pulls the card Nathalie gave her earlier out of her coat pocket. She stares at this next. _Why is this so hard?_

Tikki flies in front her face, "Don't worry Marinette. You're Ladybug. Like Alya said, no matter what they throw at you, you can take it. This is part of your dream Marinette, you can't turn it down now!"

 _It’s just one little design._ She nods at Tikki and calls the number on the card.

It rings twice before she hears a voice, “Office of Mr. Agreste. How can I help you today?”

“Hi Nathalie, it’s Marinette?” She was trying her best to sound like she didn’t want to throw up out of nervousness.

“Hello Marinette, have you thought about the offer?”

“Yes. I think I would like to take it.”

“You think?”

“I know.” She says a bit louder than intended. “I know that I want to take this opportunity.”

“Good. I will write you in for Wednesday at 4 pm. Is this okay with you?”

“One second” She scrambles to find her schedule, she had a history test on the Thursday. _I can always study after._  “Yes. That works.”

“Wonderful, we look forward to doing business with you Ms. Dupain-Cheng.”

“Nathalie.”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome Marinette. We will see you on Wednesday.”

And with that, the call drops and her screen goes blank again. She falls back onto her bed and tries to take it all in.

 

_What did I just do?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You almost started thinking Tikki didn't exist. Had to make sure she and Alya had their debuts as the helpful and motivational duo they were meant to be. Unfortunately, that meant a shorter and more dialogue heavy chapter than usual, I think. Sorry about that.


	4. Gatto Nero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is out so much later than everything else. I fell into one of the dreaded "I should be writing...nah' modes. Hope you enjoy. Also, don't be fooled, these do have a tendency to be released at 11-midnight every time.

“Noi siamo uomini,” says Adrien’s Italian teacher from the other side of the table.

"We are men?” Adrien responses, nervous about his translation.

“Correct. Lui ha un giornale.”

“You have a journal?”

“ _He has_ a journal,” his teacher corrects him.

Adrien throws his head back and lets out a groan, “I’m never going to get this Giovanni.”

His father had hired Giovanni to teach Adrien Italian. He would have had Nathalie teach Adrien but she knew nothing on the matter. He already knew a decent amount of English and Mandarin but the Summer line was going to be shown in Milan for fashion week. He was going to be required so speak to the designers, models, and most importantly, the investors. He was going to need a good teacher.

He had been at this since before the last show on Saturday. His father planned things, planned life, months ahead of when it would ever happen. He had been at this for months, and still struggling. He was starting to lose hope. 

“Yes you will, you were close that time. You’re definitely improving Adrien. Italian is hard.” Giovanni answered.

“Have you heard Mandarin? At least Italian and French had the decency to borrow from each other. Or else I would be completely lost.” 

 Giovanni let out a laugh, “This is true. Summer is a decent time away Adrien. I am completely confident you will be able to make professional conversation by fashion week.”

Adrien gives a weak smile, ‘Thank you.”

“We will continue this on Friday.” Giovanni closes the binder in his hands. “You are doing better than expected. You are excused.”

“Thank you Giovanni.”

“Prego.”

Adrien stands from his seat and leaves the room. He walks out into the hall and heads for his room. Out of all the staff his father had hired, Juniper and Giovanni have been the nicest, and newest. He wonders what might be causing this change. Maybe his father has decided that being worse than an akuma was a bad thing. Maybe his father was going back to being decent.

His thoughts are interrupted but a thud. He looks around and sees papers slowly falling to the ground. He spots familiar designs on them as he picks them up. He begins to recognize the artistic style.

“Mari, where are you?” he says out into the empty hall. A silent Marinette reveals herself from behind one of the doorways. Her sketchbook clutched close to her chest like she was holding onto it for dear life. Her face bright red, a shade he hasn’t seen on her for years. He hands her the loose papers, “What are you doing here Marinette?”

She takes them and tucks them into a folder underneath her sketchbook, “Um, I’m. Your dad. Assignment.”

She hadn’t expected to actually see him today. She didn’t want to get his hopes up about anything in case nothing came of this assignment. She was trying to avoid him when she saw him but she tripped over her own feet like the idiot she is and let go of the majority of her designs. She has prepared a lot ahead of time, just in case.

She hadn’t stuttered in front of him since middle school. What made this so different? Why was she all flustered? _It was the fall._ She thinks to herself. She lets out a breath and stands up straight.

“Your dad called me, when Nathalie did. He wanted me to complete an assignment for him.”

“What?”

“You didn’t know?”

“No!” Adrien was extremely confused. She knew that his father was horrible to work with right? He has been telling her this for years, “Why?”

“Well I thought it would be really good for me, to get ahead in the fashion industry you know? Your father may not be the greatest but he is still really important.”

“I know that but how did this even happen?”

“Well Nathalie stopped me after school the other day, she told me that I had apparently done a lot for the brand or something,” Marinette rambles. She then makes direct eye contact and smiles, “She also mentioned the bracelet.”

It was his turn to stumble over his words, “Wha- The bracelet? What would- Heh.”

He then remembers the conversation him and his father had had after the show on Saturday. This must be why his father wanted Mari’s name. The bracelet had been hers, he must have thought she designed it.

“This could be my break Adrien; this is huge for me. You know it’s all business right?” She almost looked guilty. “It’s not like I’m choosing my career over you. You’re my friend and important to me. If you want me to drop out of this, I will.”

She was right, this could be big for her. His father was a key contributor to Paris’ fashion scene. Whatever the assignment is, if she does well, it would definitely get her name out there in the industry. Now she was letting him decide. He couldn’t deny her this chance.

He puts his hands on her shoulders, “Of course not. You can’t let go of an opportunity like this. I won’t let you. You’ll do great.”

She smiles, “Thanks Adrien.”

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, if you could follow me.” Gabriel’s voice cuts the moment short. Adrien returns his hands to his side.

“Yes, of course Mr. Agreste,” Marinette replies.

He leads her down the hall and opens a door for her. She gives him a short nod, almost like a bow, and walks into the room. Gabriel turns his head to Adrien and gives him a stern look, then walks into the room, slamming the door behind him.

“I think she’ll do well, don’t you?” says Nathalie, making Adrien jump. What was it with people sneaking up on him today?

“Of course.” He turns to face her, “Nathalie, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well for starters your father didn’t want me to. He didn’t want it effecting her decision. Secondly, I figured she would’ve told you herself. I see that I was wrong.”

“Why would telling me effect her decision?”

“Your father sees this as strictly a business matter, and doesn’t want your friendship to distract her or steer her off course. You just saw it in action, she put the choice in your hands and you allowed her to go along with this. I’m sure we all know that if you had refused, she would’ve followed suit. I don’t know Marinette as well as you do, but it’s plain to see she cares very much about you and respects your opinion. That said, would you like to go watch?”

She smiles at him, something that took a very long time to develop. He smiles back, “Yes please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is it with people sneaking up on this poor boy? Probably karma for hiding from Mari the other day. 
> 
> Edit: Wow this is a lot shorter than I thought it was. Sorry.


	5. What's Your Learning Style?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized this probably could've been added to the last chapter but I wanted that to get out quickly and this one took actual research. Also it's 2:18 AM and this is going up more or less unedited.

Adrien and Nathalie walk into the room his father had escorted Marinette into only minutes before. The room is barren other than a table with a chair on opposite ends, filled by Marinette and his father, and two chairs on the side, more than likely put there solely for him and Nathalie. They take their seats and wait.

Marinette’s sketchbook and designs were on the table in front of her, Gabriel had nothing but a single sheet of paper. There was silence, the tension slowly growing. He watched as his friend became more and more nervous. She started fidgeting, making sure the papers in front of her were all aligned. He didn’t blame her, his father could be intimidating, especially in this kind of situation.

Gabriel clears his throat, “I would like to thank you for being here Miss Dupain-Cheng.”

“The pleasure is all mine Sir. It’s Marinette, if you’d like. I brought some of my designs.” She begins pushing the papers towards him, “I wasn’t entirely sure what you were looking for.”

Gabriel lightly puts his hand on the stack of drawings and push them back towards Marinette, “Miss Dupain-Cheng, I have brought you here today so you may show your worth. If you can do so, I will offer you an exclusive opportunity. Do you understand?”

Marinette nods, “Yes Sir.”

“Good.” He rests his elbows on the table and clasps his hands in front of him. He looks down at his sheet and then back at Marinette, “What is the difference between a Peter Pan and a Puritan collar?”

The room fell back to silence. Marinette turns to him, he widens his eyes and shrugs. He just modeled the clothes, he knew very little about the specifications of the designs.

“If you are unaware Miss Dupain-Cheng, we can contin-“ Gabriel begins.

“The Peter Pan neckline is more common and is used to show a more innocent look. A Puritan neckline is thicker or wider, depending on your vocabulary, and is rarely used. It is seen as clunky and not in a good way.” Marinette cuts him off.

 _Whoa_. Nobody had ever interrupted his father before, at least no one that got away with it. Adrien looks at his father but his expression hadn’t changed. Marinette was safe, for now. If she hadn’t given such an answer, she’d probably already be out of the house. They had little time to celebrate because the next question was already coming at her.

“What are the two main styles of women’s blazers?”

_There was more than one?_

“Modern and Conventional.” Marinette answers, very proud of herself. This must be something she knew quite a bit about.

“What are the variants of the Modern?”

“Fitted” She started. Gabriel nodded, “Drapped.” Another nod, “and Boyfriend?” She’d be nervous about the answer but she wasn’t given time.

“Wedges tend to come in two styles, close toed and peep toed. Which one more commonly has the larger wedge?”

Marinette sat there. Her eyes squinted and her hands drew a picture on the table, “Peep toed.”

“Ladies jackets come in many shapes and sizes, can you name me some?”

“Peacoat, Cape, Princess, Trench”

“That’s enough, thank you. Now on to the cause of you being here, accessories.” Gabriel shoots a look at Adrien, then returns to Marinette, “What kind of necklace would you pair with a crew style neckline?”

“One of the ones that stick close to the neck but drape down, um. Collar.”

“What about the Collar style neckline?”

“A similar style that doesn’t dangle, a choker maybe.”

“What’s another neckline that would pair with a choker?”

“A strapless dress, not necessarily a sweetheart, but something simpler.”

“What brought you here is not necklaces though, now is it? Bracelets, how do you style them?”

“Well you would choose a theme. A color, a material, a stone. It all comes down to everyone’s personal style and how they chose to express themselves through their fashion.”

“You mentioned stones, do you know what the highest color grade of diamonds are?”

Marinette’s face dropped. All the confidence she had been developing left within seconds, “No Sir.”

“It’s D. The lowest is Z. It’s okay, diamonds are difficult to understand. Let’s try another stone. What is September’s birthstone?”

“Sapphire.” She smiled.

Gabriel nods, “We’ve talked about females, now let’s talk about males. Black tie, jackets. Single or double breasted?”

“As a personal choice?”

In any other situation, that would probably be a joke, but everyone in the room knew it was being asked completely seriously. His father may be questioning her taste as well as her practical knowledge.

“Are they single or double breasted.” Gabriel clarifies.

“Oh, okay. They can be both can they not?”

“Correct. Which one is more common?”

“Single.”

“Look at my son.” Everyone did. All eyes were suddenly on Adrien and he realized how Marinette must be feeling right now. “What colors would you dress him in for a formal event?”

Marinette stared at him for a while. It was almost like she was cataloguing him and cross referencing it with the gears turning in her head.

“Well, you want colors that work with hair and eye color. Typically, the eyes with the ties. I remember because it rhymes.” She was nervous, “and the jacket with the hair. You then match the two and make a decent looking outfit. Adrien’s eyes are green so I’d put either a grey or dark green tie. His hair is bright and light. You want to match that with either something muted like a grey or something just as bold like a blue. You could match the grey tie with either jacket but green one would have to go with grey jacket.

Due to the formality of the event, a toned down option would be better. So a white shirt, the green tie, and the grey jacket. The jacket would be single buttoned to accent this broad shoulders and smaller waist, also because of his rank and age, he would be expected to be slightly more casual. Granted there is always the classic black and white.” Marinette finished.

The room was silent again. Marinette did not break eye contact with Gabriel. Adrien turned to Nathalie, she seemed as surprised as he did. Where did all that come from? He began to picture himself in grey and green instead of black. He didn’t look too bad. Marinette was really passionate about all this. She’d have to be to get all of that without some sort of guide with her. She knew what she was doing.

Wait was his father smiling?

“Thank you Miss Marinette. This has been as successful as expected. Nathalie has your number. You are excused.”

Marinette rises from her chair and goes to grab her sketch book. Gabriel intercepts her and pulls the pile of papers and the book closer to him. She nods and does her bow again, “Thank you again for this Mr. Agreste. This has been an honor.”

Nathalie escorts Marinette and Adrien out of the room and closes the door behind them, leaving the two of them alone. It all felt so surreal.

“I. Can’t believe that just happened. Stupid diamonds!” Marinette exclaims.

Adrien quickly grabs her shoulders, “Mari, the diamonds are the least of your worries. How did you know all that?”

“I told you, I want to go into fashion. Did you not think I’d consume every piece of information I could? This is what I want to make my life out of, of course I know this stuff. He just caught me off guard at the beginning.”

“I’m pretty sure he surprised us all. I don’t know any of that stuff.”

“Really?” She seemed unconvinced.

“Not really, I just wear the stuff.”

Marinette laughs, “Fair enough. Well I have to get back to the bakery. I focused so much on this, I’ve fallen really far behind in regular school stuff. See you tomorrow.”

Adrien watches Marinette rush out the house and smiles. He realized a few things in that moment; this “opportunity” probably involved her being around a lot more often and more interestingly, that her laugh was repeating itself in his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did she kill it or what? I hope you learned something, I sure did.


	6. Dressed to Kill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You have no idea how hard it is to come up with bracelet puns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn Tamara, back at it again with the short, 1 am chapters. I feel bad that these aren't longer, I think my play writing and love of movie scene lengths if effecting my word count.

Marinette was relieved when there was nothing out of the ordinary on tonight’s patrol. No akumas, not even a robber. She lays flat on the nearest rooftop and lets herself breathe. Yesterday had been big for her. A test in Chemistry, then another after school. She didn’t know where half of that stuff she said was coming from. The years of cramming as much as she could find online finally found a way to be useful.

It all boiled down to what though. What did Mr.Agreste want from her? Obviously he’d want more than just to test her on her knowledge of necklines and buttons. Plus, he had taken her sketchbook. Thankfully there was nothing in there but half done designs. There’s got to be more to all this than a the 3rd degree from Paris’ leading designer.

Her thoughts are interrupted by a familiar thud. “Chat,” She greets him.

“My Lady.” He lays down beside her, “Another harmless night. Almost starting to get bored,” he joked.  

She smiles and sits up, ‘Don’t say that, or else we’ll have more akumas than we know what to do with.”

Chat follows her lead and stands up, “I don’t know my Lady, Paris has been so quiet.” Chat walks over to the edge of the roof and stares off into the distance. “Perhaps they don’t need us anymore.”

His joking tone was replaced with a more serious one. It threw Marinette off guard, this wasn’t her Chat. There was no smile, no snark. A face she rarely saw but knew not to ignore.

“What do mean?” She was concerned, “Are you doubting your importance again Chat? I told you, you are just as crucial to Paris’ safety as I am.”

“No that’s no it. Its just,” he sighs, ‘What if we as a pair aren’t needed anymore? I know we haven’t faced Hawkmoth ourselves but what if we’ve finally discouraged him? What if Paris is safe now?”

Marinette stands and walks over to Chat, “Is that all?”

He shakes his head, but stayed silent. He still hadn’t looked at her and thinking about it now Marinette doesn’t remember him meeting her eyes all night. It had been a silent patrol, on the streets and from her kitty.

She speaks for him, “I don’t want this partnership to end either Chat but we both know it has to some day.”

He finally looks at her. He looks like he was about to burst into tears. Marinette could barely take it. She couldn’t stand to see her partner, her friend, in so much distress.

She continues, “Thankfully for you, that day is not today. Until we defeat Hawkmoth in the flesh, you aren’t getting rid of me. Everything else, we’ll figure it out when we come to it.”

Chat gives her a half smile and she takes it as a victory, “Why would I ever want to get rid of you?” His almost whispered, like he was uncertain he wanted her to hear it.

“Here’s to another successful patrol Chat.”

“My Lady.”

“Pound it,” they say in unison as their fists meet and Marinette notices something dangling from Chat’s wrist. Her heart skips a beat then goes into over drive. Her eyes go wide and she pulls her hand away like Chat’s is on fire.

“Where did you get that?” She says to his wrist instead of his face. She follows it as he rests it behind his head. She meets his eyes and glares.

“Oh that? Um, it’s nothing.” He began looking everywhere but at her.

“It’s a bracelet. I thought the suits took away all the civilian clothes.”

“Well, they do. I just, um, I just.”

“You just, what?”

She watches the gear turn in his brain as he thinks of a way to get out of this. She’d be amused by his stumbling if she wasn’t so confused. His head quickly turns to her, he had an idea.

‘I’m just trying to stay in style my Lady. My civilian form likes to keep up with fashion. I saw this in one in the overview of the most recent Gabriel show. It spoke to me.” He holds his wrist up to his face, admiring the accessory. He keeps his arm in the air but glances at her, “It’s not called a catwalk for nothing Bugaboo.”

She rolls her eyes and he smiles. He takes a step closer and continues, “I wanted to jazz up this plain black and green leather.”

“Mhm.” She had her arms crossed, immune.

“Pink is the new black? I thought it would brace me for any danger tonight? I’m running out of puns."

Marinette had to keep herself from laughing. She refused to laugh, even if they are fashion related. Jokes aside, it didn’t forgive the fact that he had her bracelet on his wrist. There’s no way he could be, could he?

“When was the show?” Marinette asked, trying to get as much as she could from him.

“Saturday,” Chat answers swiftly.

“And you got a look alike so quickly?” She takes his hand and looks at the accessory, it was identical, “I must admit, it’s quite,” she looks up to meet his stare, “Charm-ing”

Their masks cover a large chunk of their faces, but not enough to hide the blush on Chat’s face. She raises an eyebrow at her partner. He mumbles an excuse and a goodbye before swinging out into the darkness.

Marinette laughs and figures its time for her to head back home too. She really didn’t want to risk missing a call from Nathalie. As she shoots her yo-yo out, she can’t shake the idea of Chat having the bracelet. It was identical. He would’ve had to really focus in on a photo or be up close and personal with Adrien at the show. She remembers that Chloe had one made almost instantly. A couple more days to make an identical one doesn’t seem that far fetched, especially if he was at the show.

She lands on her balcony and returns to her civilian self. Tikki lands in her hands. She opens the trap door and skips steps down. She smiles, this means Chat knew Adrien in his fashion world.

“What’s got you so happy Marinette?” Tikki pipes up.

“Oh I think I’m a step closer to figuring out Chat’s identity.” She replies.

Tikki flies up into Marinette’s face, “Aren’t you the one that doesn’t want to find out?”

“Of course Tikki, but he had a look a like bracelet.” Tikki’s eyes widen, “This means he really likes fashion. If we ever do end up knowing each other’s identities, at least we have that in common.”

“I guess that’s true. Just be careful, you don’t want to be too risky. You’ve been really courageous lately and that’s great, but we still have to be safe.”

“I know Tikki, I will be. It’s not like a bracelet could cause much more trouble.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least it was a bracelet and not Ladybug earrings, am I right?
> 
> Seriously though, I'm sorry about the chapter length, I just feel like I'm getting across everything I want to, just quicker. If you want them with a bit more filler, I'm glad to do so. I leave it to you, longer chapters or faster chapters?


	7. Trick Up My Sleeve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A call, a panic, an idea and croissants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've written college essays shorter than this chapter. Also, this is up before 11Pm? Who am I turning into?

Lunch is most students’ favourite time of day. A break from class, where you can be as loud as you want. Adrien was lucky, he got to go to a school that let you eat lunch outside. Friends in clusters, butterflies that weren’t going to turn you into villains, fresh air.  It wasn’t shocking that lunch was Adrien’s favourite class, but not for the same reasons.

Lunch is peaceful, he tends to eat lunch alone or with Nino. It was one of the few times Adrien got to be himself and carefree, other than his eating plan that Nathalie insists on and Nino tries to break. He got to laugh, to make jokes himself. He didn’t have to pay attention to class, and was actually around people. The house was pretty lonely. Lunch was calming, he could finally relax.

More importantly, lunch is outside. Adrien spent a lot of time stuck in the mansion. They didn’t have very much space for a real yard. He also had a tendency to burn quickly, which of course is bad for a model. In fact, modelling is the only time he really gets to go outside after school. This of course, is excluding his time as Chat and when he sneaks out into the small courtyard to read in the shade or to the park.

Lunch was more than food and friends to Adrien, even if he didn’t realize it. All he knew was that he seemed to be the happiest outside and school let him do it guilt free. Something about the sun, or the air, just made the stress of the rest of his life settle for a while.

Nino was sick today so he was eating alone, which of course he didn’t mind at all. He reminds himself of a math test he has tomorrow, and the shoot right after for a magazine he doesn’t remember the name of.

His mind wanders to Marinette the other day with his father. He couldn’t wrap his head around how she knew all that stuff. He had been around fashion his whole life and knew so little. Granted, she’s into it because it’s her interest, he’s in it because he had no choice. It takes an interest and care to absorb information. His mind replays the laugh she gives him before running out the door that day. He smiles to himself.

_Bang_

He looks at the source of the noise and sees a bright pink book. He recognizes it as the book his father took from Marinette before she left. It was her sketchbook, wasn’t it?

He looks up and sees a heavy breathing, disheveled Marinette. On top of looking like she just ran a marathon, she looked like her competitors had been something alarming. Marinette looked panicked yet serene as she sat herself across from him at the bench.

“Marinette?” he starts, “What’s wrong”

“Ran. To. Your house,” She was taking deep breathes between each few words, “Nathalie. Called. Your father. Liked me. Said I was good to go. Gave me an assignment.” Her string of sentences was punctuated by her head hitting the table, finally catching her breath.

“An assignment?”

She doesn’t raise her head, “a met oh hehems”

“What?”

She sits up and rests her head on one of her balled up fists, “A set of designs.”

“What kind of designs?”

“No clue.”

“Well, that’s helpful.”

“Isn’t it? All he told me was to make a set of designs that “could be the next big thing.’ That’s all I got. He didn’t tell me what kind of designs either. Male, female, pieces or full outfits, accessories. I’m so lost.”

She looked like she was about to cry. He couldn’t imagine being in her position, between school, being chat and then having to design for his father of all people. It was no surprise she was the embodiment of chaos at the moment.

“Hey, no need to panic Mari. You can design outfits in your sleep. In fact, I know this because I listened to you describe a shirt and skirt pairing, fast asleep, at Alya’s last birthday party.” He watches his friend smile and he tries not to laugh, “Ah, you smiled, you can’t be sad anymore. It’s the rule.”

She sticks her tongue out at him, “Stupid rules.”

“You made them.”

“You follow them.”

“Gladly. Now, the designs.”

She frowns and opens her sketchbook, “See I would gather some stuff from here but now he’s looked through it all. I have to design all these pieces from scratch and on theme. What am I going to do?”

Adrien hated seeing her so down, it wasn’t like her, especially on something fashion related. If anyone could design things for his father, it would be her.

“What was it you said at the interview? That it all depends on how the person chooses to express themselves?” Adrien suggests.

‘Yeah, what about it?”

“Do just that. Maybe the next big thing is true individuality. What am I kidding, it’s the fashion industry? Scrap that. Um, maybe just design something you would wear on a runway yourself? He’s asking you or opinion about what fashion’s next step is right? What do you think it is? Make this easy for yourself.” Adrien was pulling ideas from nowhere, hoping to spark something in Marinette.

She sits there silent for a couple minutes, trying to come up an answer. Suddenly her head whips towards him, her eyes wide and mouth open. She grabs her book and scrambles out of her seat.

“Thank you Adrien!” She yells as she goes inside. He didn’t know where she was going but was happy she had a plan. He smiles and picks up his sandwich again. He leans his head back and watches a couple clouds go by.

_____________________________________________

Marinette’s mind was working faster than her hands, rushing to get all the potential ideas out on paper before they disappear forever. She had been so excited when Nathalie called her, explaining that she needed to have designs prepared. She had asked for clarification but got no useful information. She got her prompt and that was it. She didn’t know how much she needed to make, if it was just designs or-

She looked up away from her book and gasp, she had a plan.

She goes back to her book and frantically marks down half finished designs. She would polish them off later. She felt like she was creating an entire collection, maybe that’s what Gabriel wanted though.

Tikki hovers over Marinette and looks at the plans, “Marinette, don’t you think this is a bit obvious?”

“I guess a little, but I know how to work around that. This is the best idea I have Tikki. I don’t really have time to think of something else. I took Adrien’s idea of what I would wear and the job. What do I wear that could be the next big thing? Ladybug is the obvious answer Tikki.”

Tikki lets out a nervous noise, “Did you forget what I said about being careful? This isn’t really laying low.”

“That’s what I thought too but I think I know how to make them think it’s just because I’m a fan. Besides, it’s not like it’s a red and black leotard,” Marinette insisted.

Tikki could tell that she wasn’t going to give up on this. Her body droops and she lowers herself on top of Marinette’s head. This girl was going to be the end of her.

__________________________________________  


A familiar Jagged Stone song sounds off from Adrien’s phone. He puts down his math book. He hadn’t done well on his test and his father wasn’t exactly pleased. Cue another threat to take him out of school and they settled on getting a tutor if his grades didn’t improve.

He picks up the phone, “Hey Marinette, how’s the designing coming?”

“Hi to you too.’ Marinette’s voice comes from the other end, it sounded distant. He figured she had him on speaker so she could continue working. “It’s going as well as your math skills.”

“That bad?”

“Yeah. Actually, could you come over? I could use your help.”

His heart skips a beat. She needed his help? Why? What could he do?

“What for?”

“I just need a second opinion on some things. I’m getting stressed out and second guessing myself, again.”

He chuckles, ‘I’d love to Mari, but I’m not exactly in the clear right now for the previously mentioned math issue. There’s no way I’m getting out of this house.”

“Just say I’m tutoring you. Then they’ll be practically pushing you out the door. You know Nathalie’s on your side.”

“That’s so crazy, it may just work.”

“Of course it’ll work, now go. I’ll see you in a few.” She says before hanging up.

Adrien sticks his phone in his pocket and heads downstairs. He searches for Nathalie and finds her in her office. She was staring at her computer screen, writing things down, and looking over all stressed. She picked up her phone, ready to make a call but Adrien stopped her.

“Nathalie?”

“What is it Adrien, I’m trying to find you a tutor.”

“But my marks haven’t gone down yet.”

She gives him a look of disbelief then back at her computer, “I’m looking now, just in case. Does that make you feel better?”

“Yes.” He closes his eyes and nods. He opens them again, “But I already found one.”

Her head stays towards her computer but her eyes glance at him, “You did, did you?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“Marinette.” He had to be to the point, he couldn’t let his confidence falter or she would never let him go. “She has a much higher mark than me and offered to help me.”

Nathalie smiles and rolls her eyes, looking back at her screen, ‘What’s her fee?”

“Her fee?”

“The amount of money that we will pay her by hour?”

“It’s to be negotiated tonight.”

“Oh you’re negotiating it tonight. I see, and how do you plan to do so?”

“I was hoping you would put me down for a few hours at a tutor’s appointment so I could better discuss this arrangement with her.”

“Well since you used such formal language, I know you’re lying but I’m not allowed to say no. So go ahead but you need to be back for sunrise.”

“Wait, really?” Sunrise? That’s insane. His father would kill him if he knew Adrien was out that late. Out after dark, even, was a feat.

“Go before I change it to midnight. You’re not the only one that’s going to get in trouble if you’re late.” She gives him a small smile from behind her monitor.

“Thank you so much Nathalie, you’re awesome.” He says, backing up out of the room. “You’re the best. I promise I won’t complain about anything tomorrow.”

“I doubt it. Get.” She shoos him away with her hand.

His face breaks out into a mischievous smile and runs the rest of the way into the hallway and up to his room. He considers grabbing his books but reconsiders. He probably wasn’t going to get any of it done anyway, besides, it would just slow him down.

“Plagg? Come on, Mari needs me.”

“Yeah, yeah, the damsel in distress. We’ve seen it before Adrien.” Plagg’s sleepy voice comes from the desk. Adrien turns and sees his kwami laying down, crumbs of what’s probably some expensive cheese surrounding him.

“Come on Plagg, it’s Marinette, we like her.”

 Plagg’s head shoots up, then floats over to Adrien, “Is she the one that sends us home with the cheese bread you’re not supposed to eat?”

“Yes. Now can we go please?”

“What kind of cheese is it even? It’s got to be something aged. Maybe it’s-“

“It’s cheddar. I’m sick of this. Plagg, claws out.”

Plagg rolls his eyes, “Fine.” A flash of green follows and Adrien is back to his superhero self.

He does a quick stretch before darting out his window. The wind catches his hair and he smiles. Being Chat Noir gave him so many new experiences, including being able to be a block from his friend’s front door in minutes. He finds a place to go back to his street clothes and walks the rest of the way.

He opens the door to the bakery. He is instantly met with a warm welcome from Tom and Sabine. He walks through the bakery, to the apartment, to Marinette’s room. He knocks.

“Come in,” a muffled voice came from above. He struggles to open the door but manages to get it cracked enough he could lift it with his head. When he get inside, Marinette looks up, smiles, and shakes her head.

“Again? One of these days Mom’s going to realize you can’t eat half that stuff.” She says, hunched over a spool of fabric and a ruler.

He puts his new hoard of pastries and other baked goods on her desk, but grabs a croissant before going over to sit at the end of Marinette’s bed.

“So what’s up? I’m here as long as you need me.”

“What so ten?”

“Nathalie said I have until sunrise.” He jokes a proud tone.

“Oh looks who’s finally grown up.” Marinette glances up but quickly returning to her markings.

“Shut up.” He watches her stick her tongue out but still smiling and focusing more on her fabric than him. “Quite the production you have going on here.”

He looks around the room. There were papers everywhere; crumbled, ripped, in and out of the garbage, scratched, and even on the walls. The ones on display seemed to be ones the mannequins were starting to wear. There were 3 mannequins but much more on the wall.

“Are all of these being made?’ He sees a bit of everything, but it’s all in full outfit fashion. Not a single piece was by itself.

“Oh no, no way. I do not have a death wish. I’m making 3 of them, the rest are going into a portfolio.”

“Ah, I see.”

Something else he sees is, the outfits seem to have a theme, Ladybug. Not only this but they’re all for females, which he figured made sense but his father was probably not going to be pleased with that.

“Ladybug?”

“Yes? I mean, yes. You said to do what I knew and since Alya’s so informed, I used her as inspiration.” She gestures towards the wall.

“Are you going to do anything Chat Noir related? He’s important too,”Adrien blurted without thinking. What was he doing? “I’m sorry, this is your collection, you’re using Ladybug. I shouldn’t have suggested it.”

Marinette puts her marker and scissors down and shifts to face Adrien, ‘I was planning on it originally, I had a Chat Noir dress laid out. I just thought that if I was doing Chat Noir, I would have to do male designs as well.”

“Well that can’t be too hard for you, now can it?” Why wouldn’t she want to make male designs, it would be the best way to showcase her well rounded talent.

“It wouldn’t be, but I’m planning on modelling the outfits that I’m showcasing. If I did male designs, I’d need a male model.”

“Um, Hello there. Hi. My name is Adrien Agreste, it’s nice to meet you.” He says sarcastically. “Why didn’t you call me earlier? You do remember I’m literally a model, right?”

“Yes, hello Mr. crumb fingers.” She returns the attitude, “I would’ve asked you but it’s for your father, remember? I didn’t want him to think I was taking advantage of our friendship or trying to sway him by using his son.”

“Oh please. If anything he’d credit for your ability to manipulate things to your advantage.” He looks away from Marinette. “We both know my dad isn’t exactly the father of the year.”

“I didn’t think it would be fair.”

He turns to her, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I am helping you showcase your brilliant designs to my father and there is nothing you can do about it. Do you understand?”

“Humph.” She lets out an angered noise, “Fine. I’ll need to take your measurements then.”

“That’s fine.” He’s done it a million times. His sizing was always changing so a new set being recorded every week or so wasn’t uncommon.

“Alright. I’ll do that later. Could you hold this please?” She hands him the piece of fabric she was cutting when he walked in.

He takes it. It was a pale pink with white polka dots covering it. It was almost belt like, “Of course. What is this for anyway?”

“A bag.” She gets off the bed and puts away her ruler. She pulls out a needle that was already threaded and a couple other pieces of fabric with the same pattern. They were both round.

He glances at the wall, “But none of these designs have bags with them. Do you really have time for personal projects?”

She takes the strip of cloth from him and sits back on her bed, “It’s just not up there yet. I was inspired out of nowhere and had to get it done now.” She begins hand stitching the pieces together. She was so swift and fast about it, there was no way any average person would be able to make them that straight and consistent.

She looks away from her project and pats the bed beside her, “Could you maybe help me come up with something Chat Noir related, now that we’re doing it?”

“Um, yeah, sure.” He makes himself comfortable. She hands him a notebook and a pencil, then instructs him to start jotting down ideas. He thinks about what he looks like in costume and tries to take inspiration from that but he couldn’t concentrate.

_We’re._

He didn’t know what his problem was but he knew he was going to need to be at her house more and that meant more pastries, so it wasn’t all bad.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention, I had the idea to make the measuring a bonus chapter, but nobody would want to read that so I haven't bothered writing it.   
> Let me know if it interests you and also what your favourite baked good is.


	8. Bonus: If The Shoe Fits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick little bonus chapter I mentioned earlier to make up for my disappearance.More on that later.

_ **8 PM** _

Marinette’s parents had insisted that Adrien stay and eat dinner with them. Adrien had refused initially, not wanting to be a bother but when Tom brought out the homemade buns, Adrien stopped anything resembling an argument. Sabine and Marinette set the table while Adrien stood in the kitchen, watching Tom cook. Adrien explained that he never gets the chance to watch food being cooked at home and was curious.

Marinette watched as her dad shoots her a smile and asks Adrien to start collecting some of the final ingredients.

“Oh, okay, um. Where’s the sage? Actually, what is sage?” Adrien stammered. Marinette looked at her mom and they giggle.

When dinner finally hit the table, they had discussed modelling, cupcakes, and Adrien had shown off his Mandarin. It was odd having Adrien at her dinner table. He usually left before meals or they were at his house.

“You have such a wonderful home. Thank you for having me.” Adrien said to Sabine as Marinette was clearing the table and started cleaning up.

“Thank you Adrien, and of course. You know you’re always welcome. You are such good friends with Marinette, we enjoy your company. I’m just saying, I’m very glad she has someone like you as her friend. Marinette didn’t have many close friends until you and Alya came along and while I love Alya to pieces, she can be a bit...” Sabine answers.

“Loud?” Adrien suggested. This time it was the two of them who shared a laugh.

“If you ask me, I think you’re a good fit for her. I’ve noticed you can get quite protective of her, of not a bit possessive?” Sabine winked at Adrien and laughed when the blush raised to his cheeks.

Marinette rushed to the table, “Okay thanks for dinner, we have a lot of work to do. Bye.”

She dragged Adrien up the stairs to her room and heard her father shout, ‘But we haven’t had dessert yet.” Followed by both her parents’ snickering.

_**10 PM** _

“What about having male and female outfits for both of them?” Adrien suggested, looking over the sketches.

“Like having suits with red and dresses in the green?” Marinette replied.

“Yeah, I think it will make it all a lot more spread out and show your abilities a bit better.”

“Hmm, I guess so. Maybe a black tie with a red shirt, a more casual look to start it off. Oh we could do different styles and come out together. A more casual set, a formal set, a day dress set. Something like that?”

“You, Miss Mari, are a genius.”

Marinette smiled, “I know.”

** _12 AM_ **

It had been one of the most productive nights Marinette had ever had. She had gotten all the designs for Ladybug’s outfits sorted out, sketches for the new Chat Noir ones, and found a male model. She loved Alya, but Adrien really seemed to be the better assistant for all this. Which was shocking, given Alya has the Ladyblog and Adrien’s only really seen the duo in passing. Nonetheless, she was finally feeling confident about the collection and that she may actually get it done.  

** _1 AM_ **

“It’s pitch black out, I should get home soon.” Adrien interrupts.

Marinette looked outside, there was no light except the slight silver glow of the moon, “What time even is it?” She grabbed her phone and yelped. They were both exhausted and she couldn’t figure out why until now.

“I’m going to go. Are you okay on your own?” Adrien got up from the desk and started walking towards the door.

Marinette looked around her room at the half done covered mannequins and unfinished concept art all over her walls. They may not be done, but at least she knew what needs to be, “Yeah I guess so.”

“Don’t work too hard okay? My dad will kill me if you put me in something with an uneven hem.” He jokes, followed by a yawn.

“Oh no!” Marinette shouts.

‘What?” Adrien’s eyes popped open, instantly alert.

“I need to take your measurements; I don’t know when I’ll get to put these clothes on you again.”

Adrien sighed and relaxed, “Oh, okay. Yeah sure.” He walked back over to Marinette’s work space and stood with his arms stretched out. “This good?”

“Mmhmm” she hummed. She had put a pen in her mouth while she unravelled the tape measure. She went along and took all the required numbers from his shoulders down to the length of his legs. She wrote them all down on her arm as she went. She looked at her arm and realized she was missing one.

She intended on having him in pants for this showcase, so getting the measurement of his hips was relatively essential. She groaned and threw her head back. She was tired and just wanted to be done with all this. She sunk to her knees and wrapped the tape around his hips.

At this time though, Adrien had thought they were finished so he had begun to back up. The process of putting the tape around him had pulled him forward just enough for Marinette to be met by Adrien’s crotch. It is in this moment she realized just the position she was in.

Adrien on the other hand, was used to fittings. They happened regularly and was usually done by nobody interesting. He had mastered the ability to zone out during them. Him getting pulled forward managed to pull him out of the daze.

He sees Marinette’s not at eye level and looks down. He is met by a Marinette on her knees in front of him, looking up at him with wide eyes. They stayed in this position for only a few seconds but it felt like eternity to both of them.

Adrien was the first to break eye contact and cleared his throat. Marinette tugged the tape measure away from him and scrambled away. She quickly stood up.

“Yep, 36, just what I expected. That is the average waist size. Good to know you’re average. Not that I think you’re average but-“

“Yeah I should be heading back. My dad’s going to kill me.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

** _1:32 AM_ **

"Well that went well," said the two kwamis to their owners, facedown in their beds. Marinette was screaming into a pillow. Adrien was trying to get the blush off his face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for being MIA. I had a job interview and they started my training the next day. I've worked for 10 days straight. 6 and 12 hour shifts. I'm dying. My schedule is finally in order so I know I have mondays to wednesdays off to write, no matter what.


	9. Who Are You Wearing?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mari finally gets to show off what she's been working so hard on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back to full chapters again. This felt a lot longer than it probably is.

“Do you think this is going to work?” Marinette asks, straightening his tie. “I don’t want anything to go wrong. What if he doesn’t like it?”

“You’re obsessing; the tie is fine.” He shoos her hand away, “My father loves this kind of stuff. He’ll be mad he didn’t think to make you do it in the first place. Showcasing is perfect.”

Marinette lets out a stressed sigh, “Okay, if you say so. Do I look okay?”

She was wearing a pink tank top with light white spots over it. To go with this, she had loose fitting black skirt. Her belt was white and had a bell hanging off the front. Her stockings were black up until the knee where they came to a cat like shape, they were sheer from there up. Her shoes were her favourite part. They were flats that were the same pink as her shirt and had the same white spot pattern but at the toes were cat faces.

“You look fine.” He puts his hands on her shoulders, “Do you want to run through the game plan one more time before we do this?”

“I go in, show him some of the drawn designs, then we showcase. We’re going through the casual look, then the sporty, then the date slash higher class look.”

“Correct, who’s going out first?”

“With the casual, you are. So I have time to change quickly. Thankfully you got that one girl to help us change and stuff. Having an actual professional will make this so much easier. Between that and Nathalie, I don’t know if we could pull this off.”

“It’s going to be amazing. You know the rest of the plan though?” She nods. “Then go, you got this. Just signal me.”  
  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Nathalie, if she refuses to be on time, I’m afraid I’m going to have to reconsider. Your suggestion and confidence in this girl was understandable at first but now I’m beginning to think it may have been out of favoritism.” Gabriel says, sitting at an empty table.

“No sir,” Nathalie responds from beside him, “She is here, she is just preparing herself.

“She should have been prepared 3 minutes ago. We are both aware of punctuality’s importance.”

“Yes sir.”

A silence lasts merely seconds before Marinette swiftly opens the door. She is holding a black folder. Nathalie notices how much Marinette’s walk has improved. How much her confidence has risen since the last meeting. She hopes the designs justify it.

“Good afternoon Mr. Agreste.” Marinette says sternly, her head up high and a smile on her face.

“Miss Marinette.” Gabriel nods at her. He looks at the booklet, “Your submission?”

“Yes.” She hands it to him.

He takes it and begins to look through it. Nathalie looks over her boss’ shoulder to take a peek her face sinks. They were good designs, but she knew Marinette was capable of so much. They were merely sketches of individual pieces. There was no structure to them. They were all random and plain. She knew that there was a plan, but this couldn’t be what Marinette was planning to present was it?

“Miss Dupain Cheng, do you think this is a joke? I am not a teacher you give a half completed assignment to. I must admit, I expected more of you. You had potential, I regret to have to take that back.” He slams the book closed and goes to hand it back to her.

Marinette takes a step back away from the table, “Well if you aren’t willing to see the rest of what I have to offer, I will show myself the way out.”

Gabriel crosses his arms and raises his eyebrow, “There’s more.”

“There is indeed Sir. Would you like to see it?” Marinette smiles for the first time since entering.

“As long as it’s better than this.” He holds up the booklet then places it back on the table.

“I promise you it is.” She marches out of the room. A soft dubstep begins to play a moment after she leaves.

Gabriel leans forward in his chair as he watches his son walk into the room. He was wearing black pants and a red button up shirt. At first it looks like nothing special but as Adrien comes closer, he notices more detail. The buttons are black and the seams on the pants pockets are red.

She was using his son as a model for her designs. He wasn’t quite sure how to feel about it just yet but recognized the bold move. He used this as an opportunity to observe Adrien’s talents as a runway model. Gabriel was usually busy with business matters he didn’t have many chances to watch his son’s performances.

As courageous of a move she took with using Adrien, the one design was not going to be enough.

As Adrien disappeared behind the door, Marinette entered. She had changed into what he assumed was another one of the designs. It the same stockings she was wearing when she came in but her shoes had changed. Now they were a solid lime green color. Her skirt was the same color of her shoes and fell to her knees. The shirt was a tad less impressive; just a black, what looked like cotton, tee shirt. Her necklace was what caught his eye though, a lime green cat head.

Gabriel thinks he may know where this is going. A Ladybug and Chat Noir collection. He was interested to see what she had to say about it afterwards. Gabriel takes this time to also examine Marinette’s skill at showcasing her designs. She wanted to put on a show, she better show him that she’s capable of getting it all right.

She walks back through the door and Adrien returns to the scene, in something shocking. He had always seen his son in two extremes; casual or high fashion. This was, sporty. It was odd, a risk, but understandable. She wanted to show that she’s adaptable to different styles.

Adrien walks towards him in black sweatpants with the same green accents as on his short sleeve sweater. The sweater was also black but with bright green strips all along the garment, topped with a set of car like ears on the hood. Adrien’s shoes were sneakers with green laces.

The look wasn’t the only thing that took him off guard, the outfit wasn’t over the top. It was relatively subtle and practical. The same could be said for what Marinette introduces next.

She is sporting a pair of black capris with similar shoes as Adrien but with red laces instead of green. Her top was a chunky halter top with black spots. Her hair was down and mostly hidden by a red and black beanie style hat. Her strut towards him was almost perfect. She clearly recognized that the different styles required different attitudes. Granted she could perfect this because they were her own designs. How would she fare with another designer’s?

The music changes again in time for Adrien to walk out in something much more fitting for Gabriel’s perspective. A pair of black dress pants, tailored perfectly. He wondered when Marinette would’ve had the chance to take the measurements. The outfit also featured a red shirt with a black blazer and tie over it.

Adrien makes eye contact with his father for the first time since this all started. He gives a glance of nervousness and curiosity, as if asking if it’s all going well. Gabriel gives a small nod and Adrien responds with a more relaxed expression and remains at the end of the table instead of turning.

Gabriel’s attention quickly switches to Marinette, who enters seconds later. Gabriel was the first to admit, he knew very little of Marinette’s personality and all he knows of her usual style is from her sketchbook. He had no time to pay any real attention. None the less, he could still tell that this was out of character for her.

It was the first set of heels he had ever seen her in. They were a larger heel on a small platform boot. The material was black and the laces green. From her ankles to just above her knees were what looked like socks opposed to the stockings they probably were. The main piece was the dress. It was a straight black that reached an inch above where the socks ended. The sleeves were lace and there was a large green decal over her chest; the trademark green in the shape of whiskers an cat ears. Her necklace was a black choker with a bell in the center. Her hair was held up into two buns atop her head by green ribbons.

She joins Adrien at the end of the table. She drapes her arm over the one his son had presented to her and remains standing there. He had to admit they looked professional, talented, and dare he say it, powerful.

“Is this all you have for me?” Is all he says though.

Adrien’s face falters but Marinette stays sharp. She steps away from Adrien and begins.

“Mr. Agreste. You gave me an open ended assignment. You told me to provide you with what the next big thing could be. It took me a while to come up with what you meant by that and how I could please you. I came up with two interpretations.”

She continues,"The first was the easier of the two, and the most obvious. Ladybug an Chat Noir are Paris’ staple. They are national and international icons. Why a collection inspired by them isn't already around is, quite frankly, a surprise. They are 3 basic colors; black, green, and red. The patterns are also easy to manipulate, spots and a cat theme. Between their popularity and flexibility, I think they could be very easy to sell and impress. People of all ages can benefit.  A kids’ line could be more obvious with the colours and patterns, whereas a more adult line can be subtle such as this look.”

She gestures to herself and Adrien, “The line can differ between fun, trendy, and sophisticated if you have the right team. I prefer working with a goal in mind, it keeps you focused.”

“What is the second interpretation?” Gabriel asks.

“Me.”

“You?”

“Yes Sir. You asked what the next big thing could be and I think I could be. As a designer. I know the possibility of me working in the industry professionally is slim, I am aware that it is extremely competitive. With that in mind, I tried my best to put my personality and style into these pieces. I designed and created these looks based on the superhero duo and what I would wear myself.”

“You made these pieces?”

She nods, “Yes Sir.”

“Thank you Miss Dupain-Cheng. For your efforts and the show. I have plenty to think about. We will be in contact. You are excused.” Gabriel states sternly. He turns his chair away from the teens at the end of the table.

“Thank you for your time.” Marinette says as she leaves the room. She smiles weakly at Adrien before closing the door behind her.

“Father, she worked so hard.” Adrien begins. He wasn’t going to let his dad dismiss her like that. He has seen how much work went into this collection.

“You are excused as well Adrien.” Gabriel answers, not turning around.

Adrien looks at Nathalie, who gives him a sad look. He frowns and storms out of the room. He didn’t know what his father was thinking, he barely ever did. This was important though, this was Marinette’s big chance and he just sat there. Her speech was amazing and still got cut short.

He gets out the room and turns to go get changed. He sees Marinette, still in the dress she just showcased, talking to Juniper. All the other pieces had already been packed away, thanks to Juniper’s insanely fast work habits. She was smiling and laughing, which seemed to calm Adrien instantly. He takes a moment to really get to look at the outfit.

She had done an impeccable job making this tribute to him and Ladybug. It was hard for him not to blow his cover while helping her brainstorm. The green in her hair and on the dress was the perfect shade. The lace on the ¾ sleeves was an elegant touch that really brought it to the next level. He looked at her shoes, and he must admit, he never expected to see Mari in anything like them. His eyes continue up to see the cat heads at her knees. Had her legs always been that long? And the dress, that short? She turns to him and gives him a huge smile.

_Oh._

“Adrien that was amazing! I can’t believe I just did that! I showcased my works to your father. The Gabriel Agreste. No matter what he does with this, as long as it’s not like he throws them away and never lets me into his house ever again, I’m golden. And then there’s you! You did so well, thank you again so much for helping me out.”

She turns to Juniper, “And thank you! I don’t know how I could’ve possible done this without you Juniper.”

Juniper chuckles, “It’s no problem Marinette, you look amazing. I’m always happy to help. You were great to work with. No matter where you, hit me up and I’ll be there. Okay?”

Marinette giggles, ‘Okay.” She turns back to Adrien and takes a deep breath, “I’m going to head home. Thank you again. I need to sleep.”

“Yes, go sleep. Go. You did awesome. Amazing even. I’ll see you.” Adrien tries to complete a full sentence.

Marinette grabs the bags and navigates her way out the hall. He didn’t worry about seeing her out, he knew she knew the way. Adrien turns to Juniper and is met with a mischievous smile.

“What?” he asks.

“Nothing.” She lets the smile and drop and looks at her set up.

“Nothing?”

“Nothing.” He hears her supress a laugh. “Red is totally your color.”

He looks down at his outfit then back at her, “I look fine.”

“Forgot it. Just go.” She tosses his regular clothes at him. She sticks her tongue out at him. He rolls his eyes and makes his way towards his room. He’d have to return the suit to Marinette tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Oh No (s)he's hot!" plays in the background.  
> Also, a couple of friends drew some outfits from this chapter. Would you guys want to see them?


	10. Fraying at the Seams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A choice is made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a bit shorter. I just had a burst of inspiration to write this chapter. The next one should be longer.

Adrien finds himself hopping from rooftop to rooftop. He stops jumping and lands. He takes a deep breath and finally takes a chance to observe his surroundings. The only light and sound was coming from the buzzing of the lampposts below him. It was eerily quiet. He realizes that Ladybug was nowhere to be found. He assumes that that they must have separated to cover more ground.

His theory is quickly crushed when a stream of light, almost like a spotlight, shines down on him from the other end of the roof.

“Chat Noir!” a deep voice bellows. Adrien assumes it’s responsible for the light. “I am Spotlight. I am here to bring light to your biggest fears.”

An akuma. Not an unusual situation, and certainly not something him and Ladybug can’t figure out.

“I’m assuming you only work the nightshift?” Adrien responds.

“Silence, I have come here with a proposition.”

“And what is that?”

Another spotlight pops up across him. It illuminates a Marinette, tied up in string and thread. 

“Marinette!” He steps forward and is hit in the face by a burning light.

“Ah, ah, ah, Chat. Patience.”

“Chat what is happening? Help me!” Marinette yells at him. She wiggles against her restraints but it seemed to only make things worse.

“Let her go!” he yells. How did this akuma get to Marinette? How did they even know that Marinette was important to him?

“Are you sure you don’t want to hear the rest of the deal?” The voice was mocking him now. It was like they were dangling Marinette in front of his face.

“Ladybug will be here soon enough. You don’t stand a chance.” He screams back. Where was Ladybug? He could really use her help right now.

“Oh, see that’s the best part.” A third spotlight shines down, revealing Ladybug wrapped in her own yo-yo, “She’s already here.”

“Ladybug!” Chat wants to go to her, but learned his lesson the first time.

“I’m okay Chat. I trust you.” She answers. “I don’t know how I let this happen. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine my lady.”

“Awe, how cute.” The voice interrupts. “Do you want to here my deal or not?”

Adrien was furious, ‘No I don’t want to hear your stupid deal! I want you to set my friends free.”

The voice sighs, “You really need to be brighter in the things you say Chat. With that attitude, I’m beginning to forget my deal and favouring killing them both now.”

Adrien watches as a string on both of the girls in front of him shift from their chest and towards their neck. Ladybug grimaces, but Marinette screams.

“Okay fine! What’s your deal?” Adrien shouts. Anything to stop this.

The voice laughs and the threads fall back to their chests. “You get to finally come to terms with your emotions. You didn’t really think you could keep your feelings for the lovely Marinette a secret from us forever, did you?” As this is said, a purple gloved hand appears out from behind Marinette and lifts her face up by her chin, “I must admit, she is a catch. Literally.”

“Chat, what is happening? What they talking about? You’re the one with the powers here, do something.” Mari was almost in tears. He couldn’t blame her. Akuma victims are just that, victims. They’re innocent. Marinette didn’t deserve to be subjected to this.

“Get your hands off her!” he yells.

“Oh, would you prefer I pay more attention to your masked partner?’

“Don’t you dare touch me.” Ladybug growls.

“Are you going to tell me the deal or what?” Adrien says through his teeth.

“You have a choice Chat. You can save one of these two girls. Miss Dupain-Cheng, or Ladybug. One will safely return to you. The other, well, they’re going to hang out with me for a while.”

This couldn’t be happening. Mari was his best friend, Ladybug was his partner and the love of his life. How could he possibly choose between the two?

“Now, there is a third option.” The voice says. “There is a way you can save both of them.”

“How?” he almost cries. He’s desperate. He can’t lose either one of them.

“You can hand over your miraculous.” The voice offers. “You have 30 seconds.”

“30 seconds?”

“29.”

Adrien looks between the two most important people in his life in front of him. He had to save them. There was no other option. There was no other way. He hasn’t even seen the akuma, he had no idea how to fight it.

“20 seconds”

They’d know his identity, and Hawkmoth would win. Or, would Ladybug save the day as soon as she was free? Was exposing himself worth it?

“Fine! Take it!” He rips the ring off and throw it into the darkness.

“Adrien?” Both girls exclaim in shocked unison.

“Now let them go Spotlight!” Adrien yells.

“As you wish Adrien.” The voice says, scarily quietly.

Adrien watches as the roof splits in half, separating him from the duo across from him. He witnesses the strings loosen and fall from them. He breathes a sigh of relief. At least Ladybug can get them across.

Their side of the building begins to collapse. Marinette and Ladybug stumble and fall down with the rubble of the roof.

“No!” He screams and jumps forward, going to grab at least one of them. He’s a second too late and he continues to scream as he watches the two of them fall into the darkness.

Adrien wakes up with a jolt. His breathing is heavy and he’s sweating.

“Whoa, what was that?” Plagg asks. You were screaming. You haven’t had nightmare like that for a long time. What happened?”

“I, don’t know.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“It was just a dream right?”

“Yes.”

“Then no.” Adrien covers his face with the blanket. He wasn’t going to let Plagg see the tears starting to form in his eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sweet dreams.


	11. Outfit Repeater

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's not dead. I don't have excuses other than some writers block. I swear I am still planning on continuing this thing.

Adrien hadn’t gotten any more sleep that night. Something about watching two of the most important people in your life fall to their death, really keeps you up at night. Plagg hadn’t stopped nattering him about it. Of course, now is the time the dumb cat decides to be considerate.

He tried his best to not collapse at his desk. He rests his head on his arms and tries to power through the exhaustion. He’d been tired before but for some reason this was different than an all nighter patrol or an after dark akuma. He could barely keep his eyes open and at this point he barely cared.

What had even caused the dream? He hadn’t seen Ladybug recently, which could be considered a good thing. Was it seeing Marinette in the Ladybug inspired clothes? Was it from spending so much time on that project with her? Has he started melding the two together?

He thinks back to the other day, seeing her in the cat stockings and the short skirt, her smile and the look on her face. He groans and lifts his head.

“Dude, what’s up? You’re a zombie.” Nino asks. “You look dead.”

Adrien doesn’t even open his eyes, “Can you be in love with two people at once?”

Nino just stares in silence for a few seconds before answering, “So who finally made their way up to Ladybug status?”

Adrien opens his mouth to say something but before he could make a sound, Marinette walks in. The two boys turn to face her. She’s in the cat stockings from the show but with red boots and an oversized polka dot sweater that got rejected from the line at the last minute. Her hair was up in her usual pigtails but tied with red ribbons.

“Hey Nino, Adrien.” She smiles and heads to her seat.

Nino turns to his friend, “Oh that can’t be good.”

“I don’t know what happened.”

“You two have been friends for years, what changed?”

“Black dress, hair up, those tights.”

“That’s all? Sure you’ve seen her stuff like that before.”

“I don’t know, she smiled at me and everything clicked. I’m not sure how to handle this.”

“Maybe some time away from both of them will help clear your head. Hmm?”

“You’re probably right.”

“Always am.”

Adrien manages a smile, “Shut up.”

__________________________________________

“Nino, what did we just agree on earlier?”

“Relax, it’ll be ten minutes, tops. I just have to ask Alya when I’m coming over to help with the English project.”

“Can’t you just text her?”

“When she’s right there? No way, then she’ll know something’s up.”

Adrien groans as his friend drags him across the court to the pair of girls at the other side. Marinette was the last person he wanted to talk to right now.

He stands to the side as Nino and Alya make small talk and work out details. He turns his head to Marinette, hoping to have her miraculously changed into the old jeans and jacket. To his avail, she was looking at him, still in the red and black outfit. He was too tired to enjoy his pun. He was too tired to care how unfair this was to her. He was too tired to try to fake interest when he makes eye contact. He quickly turns away and zones out.

‘-Gabriel.” Stands out from the rest of the droning on coming out of Alya’s mouth. Adrien is suddenly at almost full energy.

“Hmm?” He lets out before thinking.

“Marinette got a call back. From your dad himself. Did you not know?” Alya replies.

He shakes his head.  He glances at Marinette. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest. Her head was turned from him but he could still tell she was mad, probably at him.

“Yeah, he loved the show you and Mari did. He thought it was, what were the words he used Mari?” Alya continues.

“Resourceful and well executed.” Marinette answers in a neutral tone. Not turning her head at all.

Alya and Nino both turn to Adrien. Alya confused and concerned, Nino frustrated.

“That’s not it, what else did he say?” Alya says, not breaking eye contact with Adrien. Nino was right, she was going to notice something was up.

“That he thinks we would both benefit from having him work under him for the next season and see where we go from there.” Marinette responds.

Why wasn’t she more excited about this? The other day, she was jumping up and down that his father even wanted to talk to her. Him looking away from her couldn’t have made her that mad. She’s about to be his father’s apprentice for the next few months. People would kill to be in her position. She’ll be helping with designs, probably sewing. _Oh no._

‘I guess that means you’ll be around the manor more often huh.” Adrien tries his best to sound light hearted but knows he failed the second it left his mouth.

Marinette turns to him and says blandly, almost bitter,“Guess so. See you after school.” She shoves past him, pulling Alya with her.

Once the duo was out of sight, Adrien turned to Nino, “What did I do?”

“Dude. You looked at her like she was a piece of moldy bread. Then sounded like her being around is going to give you cancer. I know that you’re tired and not in the right mind but that was harsh.” Nino answers.

“Well I guess there goes the plan of avoiding Marinette.” Adrien says.

“You’re going to spit my food out, see how you feel being the food!” screams a voice out of sight. Screams follow and Adrien sighs.

And there goes that plan too. He is in no mood to handle both of them today. 


	12. Brainstorming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's almost 2 am and I'm mad my Plagg may be slightly ooc. Oh well.

It hasn’t gone away. The sense of dread and guilt he can’t explain. Why does he have to love both of them? Things would be so much easier if Ladybug felt the same way, or if Marinette wasn’t so amazing too. Why did he have to have that dream? Why did he have to see her in that dress?

He hates this. All of this. Ignoring them, avoiding them at all costs. He’s forgotten what it’s like without them. He knows he’s being weak, but there’s no way he could see them. He can’t flirt with Ladybug like he usually does because then he’ll feel guilty about Marinette. It’s the same the other way, Marinette wouldn’t want him, and he’d be being unfaithful to his Lady.

On patrols, he insists they split up;

“It’ll make it faster. Cover more ground. We can go to sleep earlier.” He says.

Thankfully they haven’t had an attack since the nightmare. They haven’t really needed to interact. In the few times they do, it’s obvious that she’s upset. She refuses eye contact and uses small sentences. Her eyes often have bags under them, and her voice is hoarse.

He uses excuses to avoid putting the blame on himself. He tells himself it must be something in her civilian life that’s bothering her. He cares but never asks. He can’t.

Ladybug isn’t the only one mad at him. Marinette is harder to dodge, but is usually too busy to be mad at him. She doesn’t talk to him. He’s not sure if this is a good thing or not. They’ll pass in the corridors at school and the manor in silence, barely meeting eyes. Her arms overflowing with fabric and her sketchbooks. His father mistakes this whole ordeal as professionalism and praises him for it.

Alya isn’t happy with him either. She only talks to him to tell him how she’s not sure what’s going on but something’s wrong. She goes on about how Marinette hasn’t been the same since she got the call back. She tells him that he has to be the one to talk to her. Marinette won’t talk to her and is at his place more than not.

He wants to talk to them. He wants to take it all back. This was almost as bad as the dream that started it all. He wants to fix it, but, he’s scared. Rejection from Ladybug is commonplace, safe, harmless. To get rejected from Marinette too, is too much to think about.

“You’re going to have to deal with this eventually.” Plagg says out of view.

“Hmm?” Adrien had been half asleep at his computer desk. He doesn’t life his head. He didn’t have the energy to deal with kwami today, or lately.

“You’re going to have to either choose one or get over it. Avoiding them doesn’t make them go away. It doesn’t work with any kind of problem, especially girls. It’s causing more damage then good right now.”

“What do you know? Your only problems are when you run out of cheese.” Adrien mumbles into his sleeve.        

“Which is very soon by the way.”

He looks up and glares at Plagg, “My point”

Plagg sits on the desk right in front of Adrien, “Not the point.”

Resting his chin on his arms, “Then what is the point Plagg?”

“My point, is that this can’t go on forever. All you’re doing right now is messing up your chances with both of them. I know this kind of situation is hard but I’ve been around a lot longer than you kid. You may want to trust me on this one. If you want either of them in your life later on, you have to stop this.”

“Well what do you expect me to do? Walk up to Marinette and go ‘Hey, you know how I’m in love with Ladybug? Yeah well I still do, but I think I love you too. I’m struggling to figure out which one I love more.”

“Obviously not. I’m not saying, come right out with it. I’m saying, you need a reality check.”

“I’m assuming you’re here to provide me with it?”

“I do what I can.” Plagg does his best to defuse the situation.

“What do you suggest then, oh great wise one.” Over the years, Adrien has learned that the best way to handle Plagg is to agree, but with a tinge of sarcasm.

“The one you have an actual chance with?”

“Ow?”

“I’m just saying kid, Ladybug is a great, I’m not saying to stop loving her because let’s be honest, you’re never going to stop. My point is, that if you want anything to come out of these two, something has to pop up. You have to be willing to take the chance.”

“They’re not cheese Plagg. You don’t get to just choose-”

A knock interrupts him.  Both Adrien and Plagg turn to the door. The maid doesn’t come until Thursday, Nathalie would’ve just walked in. The knocks repeats.

Plagg hides under Adrien shirt as he stands up. He goes over to the door and opens it to a very flustered looking Marinette.

She was in black leggings, a simple red dress, and a necklace with black and red alternating beads. Her hair was up in two messy buns that looked close to coming undone. There were bags under her eyes and her face was red. She seemed out of breath and close to crying. Her arms were overflowing with pattern samples, magazines, and her sketchbook.

He didn’t know what to do watching her struggle to keep herself intact. Does he let her in again, or shut the door in her face? Does he continue to run from this, or finally make a choice?

She looks up at him and he sees the tears forming in her eyes.

_Merda._

He starts pulling things out of her hands and pulls her inside. He seats her in his computer chair and starts organizing everything. Her sketchbook and magazines went on the desk and the fabrics went on his bed and couch.

Once everything was put in place, he walks over to his friend. She is practically curled in a ball with her face on her knees. He stands in front of her and sighs.

“What’s wrong?” He’s genuine. He prays this doesn’t have to do with him. He wants to fix things.

Marinette looks up at him and sniffles. “There’s just so much Adrien. I’m falling apart. I’m stuck dealing with school, the internship, saving Paris…from your father’s boring designs. Not to mention, you.”

“Me?” Well there goes that theory.

“You’ve been ignoring me, avoiding me even, since I started working for your father. You told me you were happy that I got this job even though you hate your dad. I didn’t want to upset you but I clearly did. You won’t talk to me, I miss you. I’m so stressed out and I need my best friend.”

“Alya’s worried sick about you Mari. Have you not called her?” Why was Alya on his case so much if Marinette needs her.

“She doesn’t get it. Not like you do. You get how your father gets. How harsh he is. She just keeps going on about how great it is that I got this job. Yeah, I’m thankful for it, but it’s weighing me down so much Adrien. I need you, and I haven’t been able to come to you. I’m surprised you opened the door. You don’t even wear the bracelet that started all this.”

Adrien glances at his bare wrist. He had forgotten he took it off the morning after the nightmare. He didn’t realize how much it really meant. He didn’t realize how much this was hurting Mari. He had been so focused on what scared him, he didn’t stop to think about how it was scaring her.

He grabs her hands and pulls her to her feet. A confused and timid look appears on her face. He pulls her into a hug.

They stand there for almost half an hour. He lets her cry. He doesn’t. Not in front of her.

When they finally separate, Adrien helps her sort fabrics to patterns, and patterns to designs. They even managed to get in some new shoe ideas. Marinette finally laughed when he suggested they put plastic ladybugs all over the heel of a thick wedge.

Marinette is the first person he’s eaten dinner with in his dining room since his mother passed. Apparently the chef had had multiple talks with Marinette about what her, and Adrien’s, favourite foods. Which would explain the almond strawberry salads being replaced with more proteins and savory pastries.

After dinner, he watched Marinette walk out the doors. He had lent her a bag to carry the fabrics and a folder for all the paperwork. She left looking a million times more put together and more importantly, happy. He hated to admit it, but he was happier too.

Plagg pops his head out with a smirk on his face. Adrien shoves him away.

“Oh shut up, you stupid cat.”

“What did I say? Look how painless that was. Now look at you. That’s the first smile you’ve managed for weeks.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Do you see what I was trying to say? You can see how much better both of you feel now. You got over yourself and did it. I was right, again.”

“What do you want? More cheese? Yes, Mari being happy also makes me happy. What is that supposed to mean?”

“Your choice is either going to be easier or harder because of it. It all depends on how you want to handle Ladybug.”

“Who would you choose Plagg?” Adrien stopped in the middle of the staircase.

“What does it matter? It’s not my love life.”

“Well you’re going on about how wise you are, you must have some sort of advice to help me make a decision.”

Plagg sighs, “I said it before Adrien, Ladybug is a great day dream. She’s your partner, unobtainable, safe. You already know the rejection there. Rejection from Marinette is new territory. You have to decide if you’re ready for that to be a possibility.”

Adrien hadn’t thought about that. He faced Ladybug avoiding his lines so many times, it’s become routine. To get the same treatment from Marinette would be a whole new ball park.

Plagg continued, “You also have to remember that this is Ladybug. You don’t know her civilian self. You believed she was Chloe for a while. You know the mask, not the girl. Not all Miraculous Holders are good. You don’t know who she is out of the mask. But Marinette, that girl knows you like the back of her hand. Why else would she think to ask for cheese croissants? She knows you, the real you. You know her, the real her. That’s all I have to say on the matter.”

“I think it all has to rely on how Ladybug reacts at tomorrow’s patrol.”

“Suit yourself. All this girl talk is making me hungry. Slide me one of the croissants.”


	13. Can't Sleep Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone falls victim to the late night brainstorms.   
> Or  
> Adrien's sleep schedule has definitely gone to shit.

There was no way that he could tell Ladybug. Years of flirting, years of loyalty. He can’t just throw that away on a girl who cried at his door. Marinette was his best friend. There was no way to even know if she would feel the same. He can’t risk losing Ladybug for something that may not work out.

Plagg was right, he was playing it safe. He was scared. He knows how to be rejected from Ladybug. It was routine. A pun, a flirt, a laugh, and getting back to business. Maybe he knew that it was never going to happen. He did know.

He hated admitting when the stupid cat is right. He doesn’t know she is behind the mask. She could be anyone. Of course, “Whoever is behind that mask,” but that was years ago. People change, feelings change. The flirting had become second nature; it didn’t mean as much anymore.

He will never stop loving her, it would be impossible, but he knew that he had to let it go. He knew that it would be better to keep his dating life and their partnership separate. They had become closer as friends. She loved him, but not the way he loves her. It would be a bigger risk if things didn’t work out. It would be a danger for all of Paris, not just them.

He was going to let her go. He had decided. He was going to tell her that things were going to change. He wasn’t sure how, but it was going to happen.

What was going to happen after that though? How would Lady react? Will she be mad? Disappointed? Why would she be disappointed? She hates the flirts. Why did he go with it for so long? If he really loved her then he would’ve stopped long ago.

How would he even tell her? “Good evening my Lady, I know you hate the jokes I make so I’m going to start going after that girl you had me protect for you once.”

That’s right! Marinette and Ladybug know each other. They were obviously close enough that Ladybug wanted him to pay special attention to Mari. Did she know that he knew Mari in his civilian life? No way. There was no way she would be able to know that.

How would he even talk to Marinette about it? “I know we’ve been friends forever but I recently realized I’m so in love with you I’m making up conversations in my head about how to confess to you.” Yeah, that won’t scare her away at all.  She’s already so stressed out with school and this apprenticeship.

Oh God, how would his father react? She was his business partner now. His dad would kill him. Just like his dad, no happiness for Adrien. Everything is business, professional. It took so long to get Nathalie to talk to him about anything other than shoots or his diet. Why did he even bother caring what his father thought? He made mom run off, he’s obviously not the best at relationships.

He missed his mom.

She would’ve made all this so much easier. He’d be able to talk to her about it, in a sense. Anyone would be easier to talk to then his father. He’d probably tell him he was being unprofessional and delusional. He’d be told to get a grip, that love gets in the way of his career and success.

How did Mari handle him so well? Well, as well as she is. She’s so passionate about her dream, she’s willing to deal with his father’s constant nagging and screaming. If she’s lasted this long, his father’s got to have some sort of respect for her.

His mom would’ve loved her. Marinette was so kind, and smart, and talented.

_He groans._

Mom would’ve baked cookies with her while discussing the best necklace to match with what ever pattern is in this season. How would she have reacted if she knew her son was out there risking his life every night for the safety of Paris? Being Chat Noir is hard enough without having to worry about the risks.

It would be putting Marinette at risk too. If they got discovered, an akuma could go after her. Or worse, the industry. She’s putting herself out there with this internship. They could think that she was just using it to get to him.  They would start seeing her as his girlfriend instead of her real talent.

That was it. He had made a choice. He wasn’t going to do anything. He couldn’t make a choice. He has to stay loyal to Lady and protect Marinette. Of course he loved them, but he had a duty to both of them.

He wishes his mom was here. Then he’d have someone other than Plagg or himself to talk to about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's short, I just wanted to get everything he was thinking in before he started crying. I tried to mimic the train of thought opposed to a formal style.


	14. Love Patrol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hahahah, hey again?

How what he going to do this?

He jumps from one roof to another. The wind in his hair had never felt so harsh before. He stumbles on his landing and falls on his back. He sits there for a minute with his arm covering his face.

He was really going to do this.

He stands back up and surveys skyline. He sees a figure swinging in the distance and his heart skips. He takes a deep breath and tries to not throw up as he makes his way in Ladybugs direction. He was thankful this was just a patrol and not an attack.

He slowly begins to match her pace and goes over his plan again. He was going to tell her. He was going to stop her and tell her. He was going to make a choice. It all rested on her reaction.

It was going to be one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do but he knew it had to be done. He finally meets up with her a few minutes later.

“Ladybug!” He grabs her attention.

She turns and smiles, “Oh there you are Chat. I was wondering where you had wondered off to.”

“You’re not angry?”

Her smile falls, a more confused and sympathetic look takes its place, “Why would I be mad? We’re both a little late sometimes.”

“That’s not what I meant.” There was no playfulness in his tone. It was odd for both of them, taking them a few seconds to adjust to the tone.

“What did you mean then?” She asks.

“I’ve been ignoring you. Avoiding, almost, in a sense. I’ve been useless on patrols. Our partnership is based on communication and I’ve barely looked your way. I thought you would be angry.”

“I’m not angry Chat. I know it’s not like you. Yes, it took a toll on both of us but now we can work on it. Everyone has a hard time every now and then. I’ve been having my own lately as well. Neither of us have been very good at being the bigger person. It’s just as much my fault as yours, don’t be too hard on yourself.”

“Thank you Ladybug. If you will allow me, I’d like to explain why I have been so distant lately. I feel you deserve to know.”

“You don’t need my permission Kitty.” She gives him a weak smile and puts her hand on his shoulder.

He cringes at the nickname, it not making this easier. He gently takes her hand off his shoulder, “I’m in love. With you specifically.”

“I knew that silly-”

“No. This isn’t one of my jokes. I am in love with you Ladybug. I have been for a long time and I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

“Then why be so distant?”

“Because I think I’m in love with someone from my civilian life as well.”

“I see.” He couldn’t put an exact emotion on her face but everything he needed to know is said when she takes a step away from him.

“I won’t give you her name but she’s wonderful and I’ve only just realized my feelings for her. I’ve been trying to figure out what to do about all this and everything kept coming back to you. I don’t know where my feelings are with her, but I do know with you. You will always be my first choice but I know the complications with that. I was scared.”

“Of what? I’m not an akuma.” She’s too calm. Why is she so calm? He’s pouring his heart out and she’s barely giving him eye contact.

“I was scared of what this conversation would be like. If you would say you were finally done and couldn’t handle me anymore. That you would hate me. I didn’t know how I felt, and I certainly didn’t know you were going to feel.”

“I could never hate you Chat. We’re a team. I depend on you.”

“Ladybug. Do you love me?”

“You’re my best friend and I could never defend the city without you.’

‘Do you love me?”

“It’s too dangerous Chat.”

“Do you love me?”

She sighs, “No. Not the way you want me to. There’s a civilian in my life as well.”

“I understand. Do you think you can finish the patrol alone? I need some time.”

“I’m sorry Chat.”

“Don’t be.” He gives her the best half smile he can manage, “I just needed to know. Now I can focus on woo-ing her instead. Think about it this way, you don’t have to listen to my pick up lines anymore.”

He turns and starts towards the end of the rooftop. The last thing he hears before leaving is Ladybug yelling after him.

He doesn’t realize that he’s crying until the air stings his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I know it's been forever but I have some reasons I swear.   
> 1\. College started up again  
> 2\. I got kind of stuck with this story but I'm back on track.   
> 3\. I've been working on a different story called Extension 489. It's been kind of consuming me with a new writing style, content, and research.   
> Again, I'm so sorry I've been dead


	15. Cat's Out of the Bag

Nathalie may have gotten a lot more laid back over the past few years but it didn’t stop her meticulous tyranny of waking him up everyday. School didn’t start until 8 but he was still being woken up at 5. When he was younger, Nathalie used to let him sleep in until 6. Now that he’s older, she expects him to be up and dressed by 5:15 am.

 She pours them both a coffee and they go over the schedule for the day. Once they have their daily disagreement about what his father wants him to do and find a way to laugh it off, Adrien is off to his lesson.

The past few weeks he’s been learning Italian. He’s not too sure how he feels about it but is thankful that its much easier than Mandarin. He does know though, that today is killing him.

He walked into his class, tired and trying to forget last night. As much as he loved Giovanni, his over the top lessons were the last thing Adrien wanted right now. He sits at the table and puts his head on the table.

“What is wrong Mr. Adrien?” Giovanni asks.

Adrien raises his head, eyes still closed, “Just tired.”

“No, no, no. This is more than tired. What is it?”

Adrien groans and puts his head down again. He didn’t have the energy to fight with him.

“Well, if you aren’t going to tell me, I’ll have to guess.” Giovanni paces past Adrien a couple times before letting out a chuckle. “Must be girl issues. Did she say no Mr. Adrien?”

Adrien grunts in response. Giovanni hums a short tune. Adrien hears the chair beside him scrape against the floor. He lifts his head and opens his eyes.

“I can’t just let you leave. Your father would kill me. I need to teach. Would you like some help?”

“Help?” Adrien asks.

“French, Italian, all romance languages. Master both, girls at your feet. Am I right?”

Was Giovanni suggesting that he help him flirt in Italian?

“I guess.”

“Then we start now. Repeat after me, ‘Sono la tua’.”

_______________________

 

He couldn’t believe it but somehow learning cheesy Italian pick up lines has made him feel better. What doesn’t make him happy though, is having to leave that lesson to make sure he was at actual school on time. By, on time, he means a half hour early because Nathalie had a meeting later. She apologized numerous times but it wasn’t like he could be mad at her.

Thankfully Nino, of all people, had a habit of going early as well. Something about the quiet made his music better. Adrien was just glad to not have to be alone.

He drops his bag and nearly falls into his seat next to his friend, “Tell me we don’t have a test.”

“Naw, you’re good man.” Nino assures him. “You look like a mess though. What’s up?”

“In what order?” Nino was the only one Adrien really felt comfortable being sarcastic around.

“The first one.”

“Well I got rejected.”

“Tough break.”

“I barely slept, Nathalie waked me for coffee.’

“Not new, but go on.”

“I spent what felt like hours being taught how to pick up girls in Italian.”

“That’s a problem?”

“To end it all up, I think I finally made a choice.”

“What choice? The Mari versus Lady choice?” Adrien nods. Nino’s eyes widen, “Who?” He almost yells.

The door opens, in walks Marinette and Alya.

“Marinette, you finally got here on time for once.” Ayla jokes.

Marinette lets out a nervous laugh, “Yeah I guess homework was pretty easy.”

She turns and sees Adrien. She heads towards him and he feels his heartbeat increasing. Why was she coming near him? What does she want?

“Adrien?”

“Y-yes?” he stammers.

“Did you hear me? I said I’m riding home with you tonight. Nathalie thinks it’s faster to have us both get picked up instead of me going home first. Your dad is super stressed lately with the exact color of the latest cardigan. It’s driving me crazy. Anyway, I’ll be staying for dinner too. Hope I actually get to see you this time.”

She gives him a small smile before walking past him to meet Alya. Adrien turns to Nino, trying to make his body stop rushing. When he meets eyes with Nino, he’s met with a smug smile.

“Shut up.” Adrien points a finger at his friend, as intimating as possible.

Nino throws his hands up, “I didn’t say anything.”

In the background they both hear Marinette yell, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE WAS A TEST?”

Adrien glares at Nino and punches him in the shoulder. Nino almost falls off his chair from laughing too hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder that this has been taking so long because I've been struggling with a second story on top of this. Check it out if you want! Or stick to this one. Either way, thanks for sticking to anything. This was shorter than I expected, which sucks but at least it's something. Have fun.   
> (bonus points to those who know the Italian or want to offer any pick up lines for future use in the fic.)


	16. Cat and Mouse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My cat never brings me gifts, she prefers chasing the mice.

Marinette prided herself on being positive. Being Ladybug meant that she needed to be a role model, especially for kids. What would it look like to have an upset or angry hero? What message does that send? No, Marinette always tried to find a silver lining. Today, on the other hand, was not a day she could achieve that.

It was a Saturday. Her parents asked her to get up early and help with a big order of pastries for a baby shower. Then Nathalie called her and told her Mr. Agreste wanted her to come and look over some fabric choices for one of her designs. She still didn’t know if this set was supposed to be a test or her second audition for him. She didn’t really care but having to stand there and be lectured on the difference between scarlet and ruby was not how she planned her afternoon. She didn’t even get to see Adrien and she still had homework to do.

When she walked into the bakery, she was sure that nothing short of an akuma attack could keep her from her bed. She was going to do her home work tomorrow, finish some designs before Tuesday. She didn’t even say hello to her mother.

Marinette was going to go to sleep, if there wasn’t something already on her bed.

The last thing she expected to see when she opens the door to her room is a pile of fabrics on her bed. It didn’t help that there were 2 new adjustable dress forms in the corner next to her make shift one and a new sewing machine on her desk.

A few questions came to mind. It wasn’t her birthday and Christmas wasn’t for another two months so who put all this stuff here and why? How did they get it in here in the first place? It would’ve had to be someone her parents trusted. Alya? No, she didn’t have the funds for this.

Then it hits her.

“No.” She drags the syllable as she inspecting the fabrics closer.

Not a single wrinkle and obviously picked earlier that day. They were all name brand and way out of her price range. There was an array of colors and a variety of fabric types. Marinette could only ever dream of fabric of this quality until now.

The same could go for the sewing machine. This meant no more snagging fabric, more pattern options. Most importantly, no more hand sewing. She’s lost nearly all feeling in her fingertips from pricking herself.

 Beside the machine is a new sketchbook with a gold cursive M on the front. She opens the book and on the front page is a note written in a familiar font.

  
**“ _Dear Marinette,_**

**_I noticed your collection was missing a few colors. I thought I would fill in the holes. This was stuff I found around the house that Father was going to throw away. I know you’d hate the idea of nice fabric going to waste._ **

**_Speaking of my father, since you’re working with him now, you should have the equipment for it. He would hate to know that you weren’t working with the newest models. We both know how he gets when he’s mad, so I thought I would fix it before it became an issue._ **

**_I hope you like the machine and forms, I hope I put them in an okay place. If not, you can yell at me at school on Monday._ **

**_Anyway, see you then. Enjoy. Call me when you find this._ **

**_Love,_ **

**_Adrien Agreste”_ **

  
Marinette wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or cry. She sits on the chair in front of her desk and stares at the new machine staring back at her. She knew how expensive this stuff was and she started feeling a but guilty. He didn’t have to buy her all this stuff, especially not two forms. What was he thinking? She could just use the stuff at his house.

She sighs and pulls out her phone. She dials Adrien’s number but it goes to voicemail.

She shakes her head, “Hey Adrien, I’m doing what you told me. I’m yelling at you on Monday though, there’s no way those forms are going to work so close to each other. You should know that. Okay bye.”

She hangs up and moves the forms to different corners of her room so she could see them from her desk. She carefully puts the fabrics with her other ones. She was going to be sure to only use those for special outfits.

All Marinette wanted was to go to bed, but now she was sitting on her bed dialling her best friend.

“Hey Mari, what’s up?”

“Alya, you’re not going to believe what I just found.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's short, there's some reasons.  
> 1\. I just finished a chapter for my other story that took me 3 weeks to write.   
> 2\. This was kind of filler but not really.  
> 3\. I finally knew how I wanted to structure this part of the story and I have to work a 12 hour shift in 5 hours so I wanted to get it done before the idea was gone.


	17. The Tables Have Turned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prepare for fluff. It's short though. Sorry.

Marinette isn’t sure what’s going on but she’s not exactly upset. With exam time drawing close and the due date for the collection not to long after that, she’s been extremely stressed out. After Adrien dropped off the incredibly useful new tools, he hasn’t exactly slowed down.

He’s been asking questions about the designs, offering advice, being a model for her. He was probably going to be the one modelling some of it anyway. It was like having a nicer Gabriel by her side. It resulted in plenty of late nights in her room eating cookies and choosing things like threads or the exact shade of red that a specific accessory should be.

He didn’t stop there though. She started walking in to class to have things sitting at her desk. New video games she raved about a couple days ago, high quality pencils for sketching, even sweets. Her favorite one was the fancy chocolate he left on her desk and refused to take back. He refused to take any of it back. He pretended it wasn’t him.

Today was different though. It had been a few days since he got her anything and she relieved. Of course, she liked everything but she was starting to feel guilty. He was spending a lot of money on her and she didn’t think that her being stressed was enough. Yeah, it was because of Gabriel but that didn’t mean that Adrien had to make up for it.

When she walked into class and she saw a small black box on the table she closed her eyes and sighed. She scans the room for Adrien but can’t find him. She looks at Nino and rolls his eyes, gesturing for her to come over.

“Where is he?” she asks.

“He didn’t want you to have a chance to give it back. He asked me to give it to you instead. I have no idea what it is though so don’t yell at me.” Nino answers.

She huffs and sits at her desk. She picks up the unmarked box and tries to guess what it is. She considers calling Adrien so he can hear her reaction. He’s been excited to watch her open every one, today can’t be any different.

She pulls out her phone and presses call as Chloe walks into the class. She spots Marinette and then the box. She huffs and makes her way over. Now, Chloe had seen all the gifts and believed Adrien’s game of denial.

“Buying yourself jewelry now Marinette? How desperate for attention can you be?” Chloe scoffs.

“Anything to be as popular as you Chlo.” Marinette retorts. Her ability to handle Chloe had improved exponentially over the years.

“Well then open it. I doubt it’s anything up to my standards but you can try.” Chloe crosses her arms across her chest.

Marinette removes the lid of the box and every last bit of her breath leaves her body. In the box in a necklace. A thin silver chain leading down to a ladybug charm. Silver wings covering a collection of red and black jewels. Under the necklace is a piece of folded paper.

Marinette’s heart starts racing. _Does he know? How did he know? What did she do? This has to be his way of telling her he knows. What is she going to do?_

“Are you going to read the note or not?” Adrien’s voice comes from the receiver of the phone. She comes back to, remembering that she called him.

“Yeah. Yeah.” She pulls the paper out from the box and opens it.

“Read it out loud Marinette. What are you flattering yourself with this week?” Chloe says.

“Is that okay?’ Marinette asks Adrien.

“Please do.” He answers.

She unfolds the paper and begins to read the note,

“ _ **Dear Marinette. As I’m sure I’ve made clear to everyone, I love Ladybug. I think she is beautiful, kind, brave, and intelligent. I thought she was the only one I could ever feel that way for. I wanted you to have something to celebrate the collection coming out soon. It was in that time I realized I was wrong. Helping you design and model the collection has given me an opportunity to watch you do what you love. I have seen a side of you I don’t think many get to see. I saw your passion and dedication. That with the characteristics I already knew about you, like your selflessness, smarts, and creativity. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before but better late than never. I love you Marinette. I just hope you enjoy the necklace. Love, Adrien.** ”_

Marinette wasn’t sure how to react but Chloe did. Her response was a shriek and storming off. Marinette sat there silent for a few moments. She had always day dreamed about something like this but never expected it to actually happen.

‘What do you say Marinette?” She hears in her ear.

“Yes.” She says mindlessly.

“Yes?”

“I like the necklace.”

“You’re not going to give it back?”

“Is it true?”

“Of course.”

“Then I will keep it.”

“Good. I have to finish up this shoot but I’ll see you tonight. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Adrien hangs up and Marinette stares at the chalk board at the front of the room. _What just happened_?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm writing the next chapter as we speak. I just wanted to get this out to you guys ASAP.


	18. The Fun Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 updated in 24 hours? Who am I?   
> Anyway, I'm just going to tell you to pack a lunch, we're going on a feels trip.

Thankfully Marinette called him during his break. The rest of the shoot went off without a hitch. He was happy that he wasn’t there when she opened it. He couldn’t face the rejection if she said no, and didn’t want to deal with the teasing from Nino right away. Doing it before the weekend was probably the best, give people a chance to relax.

He couldn’t stop smiling. She said yes. He hadn’t exactly asked her anything but they both had a decent idea of what she was answering. He couldn’t wait to see her tonight.

Nathalie give Adrien a side glance and smiles. She had been the one to make sure all the gifts he gave Marinette were perfect. She knew that if his father found out, he would be displeased and say it was a distraction for both teens. She hadn’t seen Adrien this happy for a very long time and she wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

As they drove back to the mansion, Adrien thought about what Marinette’ face must have been. He hoped Nino got a video or something. Chloe’s reaction made it so much better.

“Don’t forget about your Italian homework Adrien.” Nathalie says as they walk through the door, “She’ll be here relatively soon so I suggest you try to get it done as quickly as possible.”

“I’m sure Giovanni would encourage me to skip the work.” Adrien jokes.

“Nice try, go do your work.” Nathalie smiles and points to his room. He heads upstairs and falls on his bed.

Plagg pops out from under his shirt, “Well that went well.” He has a smug smile on his face.

Adrien rolls his eyes and shoves the kwami away, “Shut up.”

“No need for thanks. I only called this from the beginning.”

“Yes, if only I had listened to you from the start oh wise one.” Adrien answers sarcastically.

“You said it not me.” Plagg takes his place on top of Adrien’s head, “So what are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well are you going to ask her to be your girlfriend? Are you going to tell her you’re Chat Noir?”

“No way. We’re not supposed to. It would be too dangerous.” Adrien was surprised Plagg would even suggest the idea.

“Good. It would be way too risky. I’m glad you’ve grown up a bit.”

“Thank you Plagg, because I need maturity lessons from you.”

“You said it, not me.”

“Would you stop?”

“Would you get me some cheese?”

“Ugh,” Adrien rolls his eyes, “Fine. Will you shut up then?”

“Of course.”

Once Plagg was dealt with Adrien sends Nino a message asking how everything went after he hung up. Nino replied saying that Marinette shoved the necklace in her bag and Chloe was fuming all day. He said he wouldn’t be surprised if she came in tomorrow with a similar one.

/Now Alya has all these expectations. I can’t live up to your standards man./-Nino

/Just buy her a candy necklace. She’ll love it. Got to go. I think Nath is knocking on the door/-Adrien

He drops his phone on his bed and goes to open the door. He opens it to Nathalie with a clipboard.

“Adrien, you have a vis-“ Nathalie starts, trying not to smile.

She is interrupted by a Marinette shoving her way in to his room past the both of them, “Adrien Agreste!”

“I think I should handle this. Thank you Nathalie.” Adrien says calmly. Nathalie nods.

He turns around and meets eyes with Marinette’s. She was wearing her classic jean and blazer outfit. Being around the Ladybug stuff all the time made it boring and almost tacky to wear on a regular basis. He mostly notices that she wasn’t wearing the necklace.

“Yes Mari?” he asks.

“What were you thinking?” She looked unhappy but Adrien couldn’t place the exact emotion.

“What do you mean?”

“I was so embarrassed Adrien. Everyone’s eyes were on me. I’m pretty sure Chloe is planning my death, Sabrina too. I read that whole thing aloud.”

His heart sinks. Making her upset was the last thing he wanted to do, “Did you not like it?”

Her eyes widen, “Of course I like it. I told you I did. You just caught me so off guard. I had no idea how to process it all. I’ve liked you for so long but that was nowhere near any of my elementary daydreams.”

“You’re not even wearing it though.”

Her hand rises to her collar bone where the charm would be. Then she swings her bag off her shoulder. She opens it and starts rummaging through it. She pulls out the same black box he gave to Nino yesterday. She hands it to Adrien.

“I thought it would be more appropriate if you put it on me.” She smiles.

“Oh. Um. Okay.” He stammers. He pulls the necklace out of the box and she turns around, lifting her hair. He gives himself a few seconds to observe the nape of her neck and gulps. He wraps the necklace around her neck and clips it together. Her hair drops and she spins back around to face him.

“See, it looks great.” She reassures him.

“It really does.”

She sighs and puts her hands on his shoulders, “You did good Adrien. I’m sorry for freaking out. The whole thing just surprised me and I didn’t know how to react.”

“Was the note okay?” He didn’t know why he was getting doubtful now, everything’s done.

“It was the sweetest thing I’ve ever read and I wouldn’t believe it came from anyone else. Now enough about me, Nathalie said you had Italian homework. I don’t want to keep you from that.”

“Oh I haven’t even started.” He laughs.

“Adrieeeeen.” Marinette whines, “You have to do your work.”

“I will, I will.”

“Good. Do you need help? I don’t know any Italian so I won’t be useful but I can at least keep you company.”

“I’d love that.”

Marinette sits on the bed and he sits in the desk chair. He grabs his worksheets from the desk. Adrien begins to read out the lines he needs to translate and goes through them with her. After about a half hour they reach the end of the page.

“Sono inamorata di te. I am a butterfly.” Adrien writes as he speaks.

“Italian is such a pretty language. Are we almost done? I’m starving.”

It was the last line on the page but Adrien had an idea, “There’s one more.”

“Finally! What is it?”

“Vuoi essere la mia ragazza?”

“Oh, that’s nice. What does that one mean?”

“Do you want to be my girlfriend?” Adrien looks up from his paper to see her reaction.

She sits there, staring at him, “Oh that’s sweet.” She clearly didn’t get it.

Adrien laughs, “No, I’m serious Marinette.”

“Oh!” she exclaims. Adrien drops his work and curls over laughing. “Shut up, I didn’t know!”

“I know! It’s adorable.” He watches the blush intensify and spread across her face. “So?”

“I said yes already didn’t I?” she answers.

Point to Marinette.

“Don’t you have to sewing to do?” he tries to cover up the red rising to his cheeks.

Marinette laughs as she gets up to leave the room, “See you later Adrien.”

Adrien was not very happy about how much of a lead she had in this game they’ve started playing.

\-----------------------------------

A few hours later, Gabriel walks into his room. No knocking but he had his classic vague expression. It wasn’t odd for his father to come ask him how a shoot went.

“I finished my Italian, Marinette brought my other work over and I was about to start working on that.” Adrien lies.

“Yes, Marinette. That’s what I came to talk to you about.” Gabriel says plainly.

“Oh. Is something wrong?”

Did something happen? Or did they need him to come down to the design room for more fittings?

“Not yet there isn’t. Nathalie told me that some purchases have been made and the most recent one peaked my interest. I know it’s your allowance money but I have some issues.”

“What kind of issues?” Why would Nathalie tell his dad about it? He thought she was on his side with this one.

“I understand that you are both teenagers and she is around the house on a regular basis but you need to maintain a certain level of professionalism Adrien. She is my student and now my business partner. She is a main contributor to the latest line and you must respect her as such.”

“What are you saying?”

“I am saying is that she is now part of the Gabriel brand and we need to maintain an imagine. You two may be friends but I am counting on you to control yourself.”

“So I’m allowed to like her but not act upon it? You can’t do that.”

“I forbid you from it. If she wants to continue working on this project, you two are not to engage in anything put a professional relationship.”

“Are you kidding me?” Adrien was not happy, at all.

“Not in the slightest. Are we clear?”

“I suppose.”

“Good.” Gabriel turns around and leaves.

Adrien sits there for a few seconds in just silence before the thoughts start to rush through. What the hell was his dad’s issue? Why does he have to ruin everything good? Just because he was miserable didn’t mean that Adrien had to be too. He put Adrien in an impossible place. He couldn’t argue because then Marinette would have done all this work for nothing.

He hated him. His father was the source of every negative part of his life. He’s barely a father. It’s like he only uses him as a tool for the company. He controls everything. Adrien’s diet, his schedule, his education. Now he’s controlling his love too. It’s not fair. It’s just plain, not fair. Who gives him the right?

Adrien begins pacing around the room. What would Marinette think? Should he even tell her? He has to or else she’ll think he’s taking it all back. What if she thinks that pleasing his father is more important than her? He can’t go against his father or else all hell would break loose. There’s bound to be headlines.

He wants to scream. There was no other way to manifest the cocktail of sadness, frustration, and rage. He was finally reaching his breaking point. He didn’t care anymore. He was going to find a way to be happy with her. He looks at the bracelet on his wrist then at the ring on his finger.

“Plagg, claws out.” He nearly yells.

‘Pardon? I couldn’t hear you through the te-”

“CLAWS OUT PLAGG!”

Plagg goes silent and starts the transformation. He leaps out of the window. He refused to cry. His father didn't deserve the satisfaction. 

He didn't know where he was going, he just knew he had to get away from there. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you still have that lunch because next chapter is going to be an even rockier road.


	19. Runaway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OH SHIT ITS THE TITLE OF THE STORY. ITS LIKE THE TITLE TRACK OF CD. IT'S NOT LIKE THIS WAS THE SCENE THAT I WROTE THE WHOLE FIC FOR OR ANYTHING. PLEASE ENJOY. HAPPY HOLIDAYS

It should have been obvious to him where he was headed. He was there in a matter of minutes; the path was almost routine to him at this point. He knew the balcony, the smell of bread rising from the building. He seats tiredly himself on a rooftop across the street from the bakery. He would never admit it, but it’s not the first time he’s been sat here.

For the past few years he’s been visiting quite regularly, more often out of costume though. It was a place of comfort for him. There was a sense of family his father could never provide and Nathalie tries hard to achieve. Marinette’s family had been so accepting so quickly that he didn’t know how to handle it for the first little while. He wonders if Marinette told them about today’s events.

He shifts his weight and stands up. He begins pacing across the shingles. He knew he shouldn’t be here, not like this. He wanted to keep her from this side of him.

“This just puts both of us at risk,” He says to himself, “Hawkmoth could easily use her to get to me. She’s only just said yes, what if this ruins everything? I can’t do this to her’, but he couldn’t do this to himself either. He couldn’t spend his life being his father’s pawn.

“She deserves to know.  I deserve to be happy. Right?” He asks no one as he turns back to the balcony. He sees Marinette and his breathing hitches.

He quickly sinks back down to hide himself in the darkness. He watches as she leans against the railings and puts her chin in her hands. She’s staring at what he assumes is the moon. Her hair was up in a single bun on top of her head. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She then jumps and claps her hands, a huge smile on her face.

He smiles. He was happy to see Marinette so happy. For a second he wonders if it’s all because of him. He sighs, this whole thing is terrifying. Why couldn’t he just have a normal life. One where he didn’t have to worry about all of this. He had to tell her. He would regret it later on if she found out on her own. She deserved to know.

He waits until her back is turned and takes the opportunity to hop into the railing. She turns around a jumps as they make eye contact.

“Chat! What are you doing here?” She asks. “Is there an akuma or something?”

“Marinette. I need to talk to you.”

“Okay? Is something the matter?”

“I can’t do it anymore Marinette. I just can’t.’

“What do you mean?” She takes his hands and pull him off the delicate railing.

“I live two lives. My civilian life and the Chat life. You’d think it was cool, or great, but it’s not. Neither of the lives make me happy. My family, my relationships, everything I touch is broken. They’re both filled with lies and secrets I can barely keep anymore. I’m so alone in all of it. You’re the closest thing I have Marinette.”

“Chat, I don’t think- We hardly know each other.” Marinette crosses her arms against her chest, “Shouldn’t you be talking to Ladybug about this?”

“We don’t talk about our lives outside of costume.” He leans against the rail. “It’s just so overwhelming. I don’t have anyone I can tell everything to. There’s nobody I don’t have to lie to. The best I have is my father and that’s only because he never listens to me when I talk anyway. I want to have someone I can be me around Marinette, and I want it to be you.”

“Chat, I’m not sure if-”

“Please Marinette.” Chat interrupts her, resting his hands on her shoulders. “Can you please trust me?’ He pleas.

She looks into his eyes and he tries to not cry. If she says no, he couldn’t handle keeping the secret from her. He doesn’t know what he’d do but he knows it would end up hurting both of them.

She sighs, ‘There’s really nobody else?”

“No.”

She pulls away, “Okay. On two conditions. Please just stop crying.” She wipes a tear off his cheek and gives him a weak smile.

“Only for you Princess.” He manages. “What is the other condition?”

“You tell me why you chose me.”

“Because I couldn’t live with keeping this secret from you.”

“Chat, you’re not making any sense.”

He takes a deep breath and lets the bright light surround him. Plagg goes to take his place on Adrien’s shoulder but Marinette rushes and wraps her arms around Adrien’s neck.

“I am so sorry.” She says, muffled in his shirt.

“What are you sorry for?” He wraps his arms around her and pulls her closer.

She lifts her head to look up at him, “You had to feel this way for so long.”

“There’s nothing you could’ve done Mari. Ladybug and I were told to never tell anyone about our identities. It’s too dangerous.”

“I guess you’re right. I just-”

“Listen, I know this is great and all, but I’m starving.” Plagg chirps in from the sideline.

“Plagg! Don’t be rude.” Adrien snaps. He listens to Marinette chuckle.

‘So your name is Plagg?” Marinette pulls away from him and leans next to the chair Plagg has seemed to claim for his own.

“The one and only.” He replies.

“Lucky for us!” Adrien hears come from Marinette’s room. A small glimmer of red flies through the door and stops next to his kwami. It was the same size as Plagg but red and black. It had two antennae instead of ears.

“Oh Tikki, you always know what to say.” Plagg smiles.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Marinette?” Adrien looks between his girlfriend and the pair of kwami in front of him.

She gives him an overly enthusiastic smile and a half hearted chuckle, ‘Yeah, about that whole identity thing.”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, are you Ladybug?” Adrien tries his hardest not to yell.

“Ummm, yes?” Her smile falters and she looks to the ground. This explains why she was so awkward when he mentioned Ladybug. 

They stand there in silence for what feels forever.

“Um, food?” Plagg breaks the tension.

“Plagg!” Tikki shouts at him.

“No it’s okay! What do I even feed you? Um, Tikki likes cookies,” She looks at Adrien, ‘What does Plagg eat?”

“Cheese.” Is all he can manage to say. He watches Marinette rush into the house.

Plagg follows her into the house while Tikki flies in front of Adrien’s face, “Hi Adrien. It’s nice to meet you properly. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Hi. It’s Tikki right?”

“Mhm, I know this all a lot to take in but I know that’s for the better. If you’ve really been feeling the way you said you have been, well, let’s just say wouldn’t be the first time a Chat has burned himself out. It’s a scary situation and is even more dangerous.”

“What happened?” He felt like Plagg should’ve told him this.

“Ladybug almost died because she was left all alone. Chat just stopped showing up. We all know that you two need to work together to be at your full potential.”

“I’m sorry I-”

“No need to be Adrien. It’s a hard job. It’s full of responsibility and sacrifice.”

“It’s just so much.”

“It is but if it makes you feel better, you aren’t the first pair to reveal yourselves.”

“We aren’t?”

“Not at all. I’m just very happy you love Marinette for Marinette and not just because she’s Ladybug. Plagg has been telling me how hard it’s been for you to chose. I’m sure it’s a relief. He would never tell you but he hated not being able to tell you she was both all along.”

“Wait, how do you two talk?”

“You two sit beside each other all the time, did you not think we’d figure it out? You two aren’t the most observant.” Plagg’s voice comes from the doorway.

“Plagg was telling me that it was about time you confessed.” Marinette said, a plate of pastries in her hands.

“So you’re Ladybug.” Adrien says, “This is crazy!” He then shoves a cookie in his mouth.

“You’re Chat! Which is crazier!” Marinette retaliates.

“Wha iz tha crasy?” Adrien asks, his mouth full.

“You’re nothing like Chat. You’re sweet and shy. Chat is so overly confident and out there.”

“Being behind a mask changes you Mari. Especially when your partner is so beautiful.” He smiles at her.

She playfully glares at him, “Yeah, yeah, okay.”

“You mean to say you never thought I was hot at Chat?”

The blush on her face was instant and quickly covered, “No.”

He smirks and takes a step closer to her. He takes her hand and brings it to his lips, “Not at all Princess?” He lightly kisses her hand.

The pink on her cheeks goes red. She pushes him away with one finger on his forehead, “You’re a model, of course there were times you were…attractive.”

He takes a step back an bows, “Why thank you Ladybug, I am honored.”

“Did you just come over to flirt with me?” Marinette smiles. Adrien does not.

“No, actually,” his tone goes more serious, “I did need to talk to you about something important.”

“What’s wrong?”

“My father.”

“Isn’t it always?” Marinette rolls her eyes.

Adrien scoffs, “I know, but it’s about you this time.”

“What do you mean?”

“He ‘forbids’ us from dating.”

“Wow, cliché. You can’t be serious.”

“I am though. He says we have to stay professional. I’m honestly scared he’s fire you if he found out we were together.”

“That’s so stupid!” He hasn’t seen Marinette this mad for a long time.

“I agree, but what do you want me to do Mari?”

“I don’t know! I just, that’s so unfair. He can’t control you like that. He’s trying to control me too!”

“I know, but we can’t let you lose this line. You worked so hard on it.”

“You are more important than some stupid fashion line. I have books full of sketches. There’s only one you.” Adrien wanted nothing but to pull Marinette in and hug her forever but now was not the time. “So if it choice between you and the job, I chose you. I will e-mail Nathalie right now if I need to.”

She pulls her phone out of her pocket and starts to open it.

“Marinette, no! I’m not letting you do that. I’m sure we can figure it out.”

“I’m pretty sure you two are forgetting the most obvious solution to this situation.” Plagg remarks.

“I hate to agree with Plagg, but he’s right in this situation. You two being together is crucial at this point for your partnership. If you try to fight it, you’re going to fall out of sync. Which is actually dangerous.” Tikki adds.

“So what do you suggest?” Adrien asks.

“We only date in costume.” Marinette says softly.

“Secretly date?”

“It’s the only thing that makes everyone happy.”

“But I want people to know we’re together.”

“We can tell Alya and Nino the situation. Say that we’re together but your father sucks. I’m sure that if anyone understands, it would be them.”

“I guess.”

“Look, I know this sucks but it’s the best solution we have. I want to be with you.”

“And I want you to achieve your dreams.”

“And that’s amazing but we have to remember what’s best for the city as well. If we aren’t always on our game, akumas could really do some damage. I will make it up to you.”

The silence returns as they all wait on Adrien’s decision.

“Okay.”

Marinette smiles at him and he knows he made the right choice. She stands on her tip toes and kisses his cheek, “Thank you Adrien.”

Yep, he definitely deserves this.


End file.
